Marriage statistics methodology

You asked

I would like to know how the marriage statistics for the UK are compiled.

We said

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) is responsible for publishing statistics on marriages taking place in England and Wales. The statistics do not include marriages to residents of England and Wales that took place abroad, but do include marriages that took place in England and Wales to non-residents. The statistics are derived from information recorded when marriages are registered as part of civil registration, a legal requirement.

The registration of marriages taking place in England and Wales is a service carried out by the Local Registration Service in partnership with the General Register Office (GRO). Marriages taking place in Scotland and Northern Ireland are recorded by Registrars in Scotland and Northern Ireland. National Records of Scotland (NRS) and Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) quality assure and produce regular statistics for their own countries. ONS quality assures marriage data for England and Wales and also coordinates and publishes statistics for the whole of the UK with breakdowns for each constituent country.

The ONS Quality and Methodology Information for Marriage Statistics provides the following information on marriages abroad:

Some couples choose to get married abroad. There is no legal requirement for those marriages of persons usually resident in England and Wales, but solemnised outside England and Wales, to be registered by the GRO. However, some overseas marriages are recorded with the overseas section at GRO. These fall into two main types: marriages of armed forces personnel and marriages that take place in certain UK consuls (only 15 out of 121 consuls have this facility).

It is possible to estimate the number of UK residents marrying abroad and the number of overseas residents marrying in the UK using data from the International Passenger Survey (IPS). These estimates are based on visits of less than 12 months and are derived from interviews conducted at the end of visits, where reason for visit was marriage. These estimates are based on a very small number of IPS interviews and so the standard errors on the estimates are correspondingly high. Further information on Marriages taking place abroad can be found in the Population Trends Report Marriages abroad, 2002-2007.

In 2012, an estimated 89,000 UK residents went abroad to get married and an estimated 9,000 overseas residents married in the UK. This represents an increase compared with 2011 when 55,000 UK residents were estimated to have married abroad and 4,000 overseas residents were estimated to have married in the UK. Further estimates suggest that the vast majority (around 90%) of the marriages to UK residents estimated as taking place abroad are to residents of England and Wales, while only about half of people coming to the UK to get married do so in England and Wales.

Although the estimated number of marriages abroad is high, many users are interested in marriages taking place in England and Wales, for example, those involved in the ‘marriage business’ such as wedding planners. However, users with an interest in social change may consider the numbers of marriages both abroad and in England and Wales.