Civil Partnerships in the UK: 2011

• The provisional number of civil partnerships in the UK in 2011 was 6,795, an increase of 6.4 per cent since 2010

• The mean age of men forming a civil partnership in the UK in 2011 was 40.1 years, while for women the average age was 38.3 years. These figures represent a small decrease in mean ages in comparison with 2010

• The provisional number of civil partnership dissolutions granted in the UK in 2011 was 672, an increase of 28.7 per cent since 2010.

This bulletin presents annual statistics on civil partnerships that were formed in the United Kingdom (UK) in 2011, as well as those which were dissolved.

Civil partnerships are a legal recognition of a relationship between two people of the same sex. A dissolution is a legal end to a civil partnership obtained through the courts.

Civil partnership statistics are analysed by sex, age, previous marital status and area of occurrence. Figures on formations for Northern Ireland, Scotland and the UK are provisional and all dissolution data are provisional.

The civil partnership formation statistics are derived from information recorded when civil partnerships are registered as part of civil registration, as required by law. Civil partnership dissolution statistics have been compiled from court records and include annulments.

This is the first time that the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has published provisional annual 2011 and final annual 2010 civil partnership statistics for the UK.

In 2011, the number of civil partnerships formed in the UK by same-sex couples was 6,795, compared with 6,385 in 2010. This represents an increase of 6.4 per cent. The total number of civil partnerships formed in the UK since the Civil Partnership Act 2004 came into force in December 2005, up to the end of 2011, is 53,417. This is the equivalent to 106,834 civil partners which is much higher than was originally estimated in the regulatory impact assessment on the Civil Partnership Act 2004. The impact assessment suggested that by 2010 the estimated likely take-up of civil partnerships in Great Britain would be between 11,000 and 22,000 people in civil partnerships (Government Equalities Office, 2004).

Between 2010 and 2011, the number of civil partnership formations increased in England and Scotland, with an increase of 6.6 per cent in England and an increase of 19.1 per cent in Scotland. However, the number of civil partnership formations decreased in Wales and Northern Ireland, with a decrease of 6.0 per cent in Wales and a decrease of 23.3 per cent in Northern Ireland.

The number of civil partnerships in the UK peaked in the first quarter of 2006 at 4,869. The high numbers for 2006 are likely to be a result of many same-sex couples in long-standing relationships taking advantage of the opportunity to formalise their relationship as soon as the legislation was implemented. The number of civil partnerships has since fallen to an average of 1,699 per quarter in 2011. This trend reflects that found in Norway and Sweden where there was a particularly high level of formations immediately after legislation was introduced, followed by a few years of stable numbers at a lower level and an increase in most recent years (Andersson et al., 2006).

In 2011, less than one person per 1,000 unmarried adults aged 16 and over entered into a civil partnership in England and Wales. Civil partnership rates cannot be calculated for the UK or Northern Ireland or Scotland as both Northern Ireland and Scotland do not currently produce population estimates by marital status (see background note 8).

In 2011, there were slightly more male civil partnerships (50.7 per cent) in the UK than female, whereas in 2010 there were slightly more female civil partnerships (51.2 per cent) than male. Initially the numbers of males forming civil partnerships were much higher than females. Since 2007, the numbers of male and female civil partnerships have been converging. This reflects examples of other European countries that have seen a majority of early civil partnerships being formed by male couples followed by more converged figures (Andersson et al., 2006).

In 2011, the proportion of male civil partnerships in England and Northern Ireland was greater than female civil partnerships, at 52.1 per cent and 51.7 per cent respectively. There were much lower proportions of male civil partnerships in Scotland (41.0 per cent) and Wales (38.5 per cent).

The mean age at formation of civil partnership in the UK fell from 40.6 years in 2010 to 40.1 in 2011 for men, and for women from 38.4 years in 2010 to 38.3 in 2011. The average age at formation has been decreasing year-on-year as older couples who had waited for the introduction of the legislation took the opportunity to form a civil partnership early on.

The average age at civil partnership formation for males in 2011 was highest in Wales (41.1 years) and lowest in Northern Ireland (38.9 years). For females, the average age was also highest in Wales (38.6 years) and lowest in Northern Ireland (37.0 years). The average age at civil partnership formation for males and females in England was 40.1 years and 38.3 years respectively, and 39.9 years for males and 38.1 years for females in Scotland.

In 2011, there were more female civil partners in the lower age groups (under 25 to 39) and more male civil partners in the higher age groups (40 to 65 and over). This reflects the higher average age at formation of civil partnerships for men than women. The highest proportions of civil partners were those aged 30 to 34 for both males and females. In 2010, the most common age groups for men to form a civil partnership was 40 to 44 years while for women the most common age group was 35 to 39 years.

The local authorities with the largest number of civil partnership registrations in 2011 were the London borough of Westminster (219 male and 56 female partnerships) and Brighton and Hove unitary authority (121 male and 101 female partnerships).

London has been the most popular region in England and Wales to register a civil partnership in every year since the legislation was introduced in 2005. In 2011, 25.5 per cent of all civil partnerships were registered there (1,731 civil partnerships).

The distribution of civil partnership formations across England and Wales by county, local and unitary authority, metropolitan district and London borough is not evenly spread. A couple may choose to register their civil partnership in any registry office or approved location across the UK. Data by area represent the area in which the partnership was registered and are not necessarily a good indicator of the area of usual residence.

In 2011, the majority (73.2 per cent) of civil partnerships formed in the UK were to couples where both partners were single. However, 10.7 per cent of men and 20.4 per cent of women forming a civil partnership in the UK had been in a previous marriage or civil partnership. These were similar to the proportions for 2010.

The proportion of those forming a civil partnership who had been in a previous marriage or civil partnership in 2011, was highest in Wales (18.7 per cent) and lowest in Northern Ireland (12.4 per cent). The proportion in Scotland was 15.7 per cent, while in England it was 15.4 per cent. In 2011 there were 197 people forming a civil partnership in the UK who had been in a previous civil partnership which had ended by dissolution or death.

To obtain a civil partnership dissolution in the UK, a couple must have been in either a registered civil partnership or a same-sex partnership recognised abroad for 12 months. There were 672 civil partnership dissolutions granted in 2011, compared with 522 in 2010 (a 28.7 per cent increase). Of these 672 dissolutions, 624 were in England and Wales, 44 were in Scotland, and 4 were in Northern Ireland. The rise in the number of dissolutions in the UK was to be expected as the number of civil partners living in the UK continues to increase.

By the end of 2011, 2.2 per cent of male civil partnerships in the UK had ended in dissolution, while 4.6 per cent of all UK female partnerships had ended in dissolution (see background note 7).

In 2011, 64.6 per cent of all dissolutions in the UK were to female couples (434 dissolutions) while the remaining 35.4 per cent were to male couples (238 dissolutions). There were more women dissolving civil partnerships than men in all countries. In Northern Ireland all dissolutions were to female couples (4 dissolutions).

In England and Wales 64.6 per cent of all civil partnership dissolutions were to female couples (403 dissolutions), while in Scotland 61.4 per cent of dissolutions were to female couples (27 dissolutions). Higher numbers of dissolutions among female than male partnerships are also seen in other countries with same-sex partnership laws, such as Norway and Sweden (Andersson et al., 2006).

The mean age at dissolution of civil partnership in the UK in 2011 was 38.9 years for men (a decrease from 39.4 years in 2010) and 38.6 for women (an increase from 37.5 years in 2010). Male civil partners are on average older than females when they dissolve a civil partnership. This reflects the higher age at formation of civil partnerships for men than women.

The average age of all partners dissolving a civil partnership in 2011 was highest in England and Wales (38.8 years) and lowest in Northern Ireland (36.5 years). The average age in Scotland was 38.1 years. In the UK there were more dissolutions to male partners aged 50 and over (14.7 per cent) than female partners aged 50 and over (11.1 per cent). This is likely to reflect the higher number of male civil partnership formations that take place at ages 50 and over compared with female civil partnership formations.

In 2011, the majority (83.1 per cent) of civil partnership dissolutions in the UK were to partners whose previous partnership status was single. However, 8.8 per cent of men (a decrease from 11.4 per cent in 2010) and 18.7 per cent of women (an increase from 15.8 per cent in 2010) dissolving a civil partnership in the UK had been in a previous marriage or civil partnership.

Key users of civil partnership statistics include the Government Equalities Office (GEO) and the Welsh Government (WG). GEO takes the lead on all civil partnership matters and uses Office for National Statistics (ONS) data for answering any policy-based questions they receive. WG also uses ONS civil partnership statistics to produce their own release specifically relating to Welsh data.

Organisations covering gay and lesbian rights and equality issues, for example, Stonewall, use ONS civil partnership statistics to support their campaigns and pass on the data to their own users. Businesses such as civil partnership celebration planners (for example Pink Weddings) use the data published by area as a prediction of the amount of business they might expect.