Civil Partnership and same-sex marriage statistics

Over 16,000 gay and lesbian couples united in civil partnerships in the first year after new laws were introduced in the UK in 2005, according to the Office for National Statistics.

Almost 2,000 partnerships took place in December 2005 when the Civil Partnership Act 2004 first came into force.

In 2006 there were more male civil partnerships than female with the split being 60/40. Over the years this has changed with a 50/50 split in 2012. In 2013 there were 3340 female Civil Partnerships and 2936 male.

England continues to stage the majority of Civil Partnerships with  86% of all ceremonies, while Northern Ireland held just 1.6%, Wales 4.2% and Scotland 8.2% in 2013.

Throughout the years the average age of people entering into a Civil Partnership has remained the same, between 38-40. The table below shows the breakdown between male and female in each age group:

According to the ONS numbers of Civil partnerships being held have declined from 2012 to 2013, from 7,037 to 6,276.

This may be due to the introduction of the change in legislation to introduce same-sex marriage in England and Wales from March 2014 and in Scotland from December 2014. The Northern Ireland Executive has stated that it does not intend to introduce legislation allowing  same-sex marriage in Northern Ireland, despite repeated votes on the issue.

More than 1,400 same-sex marriages took place in the UK in the three months since they were made legal, with females accounting for 56% of those.

Richard Lane of Stonewall, the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights charity, said: "It's fantastic to see so many couples tying the knot and celebrating with family and friends. Equal marriage sends a powerful signal that same-sex relationships are every bit as loving, committed and valued as those between opposite sex couples. That's an incredibly important message for people growing up gay in Britain." (source: The Guardian)