This dataset provides statistics on marriages of opposite-sex couples that took place in England and Wales, broken down by the age of each partner, the year of occurrence, the partner's previous legal partnership status, and the type of ceremony (civil or religious).

The https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/marriagecohabitationandcivilpartnerships/bulletins/marriagesinenglandandwalesprovisional/previousReleases[latest Marriage Statistics publication] is available on the Office for National Statistics website.

• Marriage statistics are derived from information recorded when marriages are registered as part of civil registration, a legal requirement.
• Figures represent civil and religious marriages that take place in England and Wales only.
• Marriages to residents of England and Wales that took place outside of England and Wales are not included.
• Opposite-sex couples, who were first able to form a civil partnership in England and Wales on 31 December 2019, are currently unable to convert their civil partnership into a marriage.

The https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/marriagecohabitationandcivilpartnerships/methodologies/marriagesinenglandandwalesqmi[Marriage Quality and Methodology Information] document contains important information on:

• the strengths and limitations of the data
• the quality of the output including the accuracy of the data and how it compares with related data
• uses and users
• how the output was created

Further information on data quality, legislation and procedures relating to marriages can be found in the https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/marriagecohabitationandcivilpartnerships/methodologies/userguidetomarriagestatistics[User Guide to Marriage Statistics]

For more information on marriage statistics, please contact Office for National Statistics email: pop.info@ons.gov.uk telephone: +44(0)1329 444661

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