More civil partnerships are being created in England and Wales than ever before, and more are being dissolved too. So say the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
The statistics reveal that in 2012:
- Same sex couples formed 7,037 civil partnerships – up 3.7% from 2011.
- The number of civil partnership formations increased in all four constituent countries, with an increase of 3.4% in England (6,103 partnerships), 3.6% in Scotland (574 partnerships), 2.8% in Wales (259 partnerships) and 13% in Northern Ireland (101 partnerships).
- The average age at which men form a civil partnership is 40.0 (down slightly from 40.1 years in 2011). For women, the average age at formation is also down slightly – to 37.6 years.
- There were 20% more 794 civil partnership dissolutions granted in England and Wales in 2012, than in 2011.There were 10 civil partnership dissolutions in Northern Ireland in 2012, and the figures are not yet available for Scotland.
- By the end of 2012, 3.2% of male civil partnerships in the England and Wales had ended in dissolution, while 6.1% of all female partnerships in England and Wales had ended in dissolution.
According to the ONS, the rising number of dissolutions is a consequence of the increasing number of civil partners living in the UK.
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Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v2.0.