Marriages
There were 30,534 marriages in Scotland in 2012, 1,399 (4.8%) more than in 2011. Figure 6.1 shows that, following a decline from over 40,000 marriages a year in the early 1970s, the annual total levelled out at around 30,000 in the mid-1990s. It fell each year from 2005 to 2009 and has increased in each of the three years since then. The highest total recorded in recent years was 32,154 in 2004 (the highest total since 1993), whilst the highest ever recorded was 53,522 in 1940. The 2009 total (27,524) was the lowest since Victorian times, and the lowest ever recorded was 19,655 in 1858.
The information in this section covers all marriages registered in Scotland, regardless of where the bride and groom lived. In 2012, there were 7,259 'tourism' marriages (24% of all marriages) where neither the bride nor groom was resident in Scotland. This represents a slight increase from 6,829 (23%) in 2011. Almost half (49%) of the 'tourism' marriages in 2012 were at Gretna.
Gretna continues to be a popular venue for marriages, and the 4,079 registered in 2012 (13% of all marriages) were 6% up on 2011 but more than a quarter down on the record total of 5,555 in 2004 (17% of all marriages in Scotland in 2004). Over the longer term, the number of marriages at Gretna increased from only 226 in 1981 through to 1,876 in 1991 and 5,033 in 2001. In 2012, 86% (3,527) of the marriages at Gretna did not involve a Scots resident.
Of course, many couples who live in Scotland go abroad to be married. These marriages are not included, and only some come to the attention of the Registrar General through notification to British consular authorities.
Figure 6.1: Marriages, Scotland, 1971-2012
Marital status at marriage
Figure 6.2 shows the percentage of marriages by marital status at the time of marriage between 1971 and 2012. The percentage of people marrying who had been divorced rose from just under 6% in 1971, to over a quarter in 2001 (28% for grooms and 26% for brides). The majority of this shift reflects a reduction in the proportion of marriages where one of the partners had never been married. The proportion of those marrying who were divorced was 24% in 2012 (24% for grooms and 23% for brides). The proportion of those marrying who were widowed (2% in 2012) has hardly changed since 2001.
Figure 6.2: Marriages, by marital status and sex of persons marrying, 1971-2012
Age at marriage
The average age at marriage has risen for both males and females. For first marriages, the average age of grooms who were bachelors has risen from 31.0 in 2002 to 32.9 in 2012; the comparable figures for brides who were spinsters are 29.1 in 2002 and 31.0 in 2012.
Marriages by type of ceremony
Civil marriages are conducted by registrars, and they have wide discretion over the form of the ceremony, to meet couples' wishes, as long as there are no religious references. There were 15,592 civil marriages in 2012, when they accounted for just over half (51%) of all marriages compared to just under one-third (31%) in 1971 (Figure 6.3).
The trend in civil marriages mainly reflects a decline in the number of religious ceremonies during the past 30 to 40 years. The small increase in religious marriages during the period 1997-2002 was largely associated with the increase of 'tourism' marriages, of which a significant proportion were carried out at Gretna. Since then, there has been a decrease in the number of religious and other belief marriages, from 16,890 in 2003 to 13,285 in 2009 followed by three annual increases to 14,942 in 2012.
Religious marriages are conducted by a wide range of celebrants. The largest number of religious marriages were carried out by ministers of the Church of Scotland, who conducted 5,508 marriages in 2012. The other religious bodies conducting more than 500 marriages in 2012 were the Roman Catholic Church (1,827), Assemblies of God (886) and the Scottish Episcopal Church and other churches of the Anglican Communion (589). Humanist celebrants have been authorised to conduct marriages in Scotland since 2005. In 2012 they officiated at 3,052 marriages, compared with 2,486 in 2011, 2,092 in 2010, 1,544 in 2009, 1,026 in 2008, 710 in 2007 and 434 in 2006.
Figure 6.3: Marriages, by type of ceremony, 1971-2012
Until 2002, civil marriages could only be held in registration offices. The Marriage (Scotland) Act 2002 allowed registrars to conduct ceremonies in other approved places, from June 2002. In 2003, the first full year of these arrangements, 3,465 ceremonies were carried out at these approved places. In August 2013, there were nearly 800 approved venues in Scotland, including castles, hotels, clubs and a small number of outdoor venues in gardens or the countryside. During 2012, 8,144 civil ceremonies (27% of all marriages and 52% of civil marriages) were conducted at these 'approved places'. These proportions were similar to those in 2011.
In 2012, around 46% of religious marriages were celebrated in places of worship while 48% of civil marriages took place in registration offices.
Civil partnerships
There were 574 civil partnerships registered in Scotland in 2012, 20 (3.6%) more than in 2011.
The Civil Partnership Act 2004, which applies throughout the UK and came into force on 5 December 2005, allows same-sex couples to register their partnership.
During 2006, the first full year of operation, 1,047 partnerships were registered in Scotland. In 2007, 688 partnerships were registered. This decrease was expected, because many long-standing relationships would have been registered as civil partnerships in the first full year of registration. The number of partnerships formed continued to fall to 465 in 2010. In 2011 there were 554 registrations; this was the first year to show an increase. In 2012 there was a further small increase to 574, with the number of male partnerships formed rising to 257 and the number of female partnerships falling slightly to 317 (Figure 6.4).
Figure 6.4: Civil partnerships, 2006-2012
More information about marriage and civil partnership statistics
More detailed information about Scotland's marriages and civil partnerships can be found within the following sections of the NRS website:
Marriages and Civil Partnerships; and
Marriages and civil partnership section of the Vital Events Reference Tables 2012
There are no figures for divorces and dissolutions of civil partnerships in these Reference Tables, because the Scottish Government is now the only publisher of new statistics of divorces and dissolutions for Scotland.