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Release: Population Estimates by Marital Status, Mid-2010

Released: 29 November 2011
This product is designated as National Statistics All editions of this release

Contact

Alison Whitworth

Population Estimates Unit

pop.info@ons.gsi.gov.uk

Telephone: +44 (0)1329 444661

Categories: Population, Population Change, Population Estimates, Population Estimates by Age and Sex, Population Estimates by Marital Status

Frequency of release: Annually

Language: English

Geographical coverage: England and Wales

Geographical breakdown: Other

  • Of the 44.9 million adults usually resident in England & Wales in mid-2010, 48.2 per cent were married, 35.6 per cent were single, 9.3 per cent were divorced and 7.0 per cent were widowed.

  • Changes in the population by marital status in the year to mid-2010 continue the long term trends seen since mid-1971; the proportions of the adult population who are married and widowed continue to decline and the proportions who are single and divorced continue to rise.

  • The proportion of adult females who are widowed has decreased around twice as much as the proportion of adult males who are widowed between mid-1971 and mid-2010.

  • In the year to mid-2010, estimates of the number of people marrying abroad (both non-residents marrying in England & Wales and residents marrying abroad) increased the married population of England & Wales by 74,000.

  • The proportion of the adult population of England & Wales who are married is one of the highest in Europe.

In this release

The mid-year population estimates by legal marital status provide estimates of the population who are single, married, widowed and divorced. They refer to the usually resident population in England & Wales as a whole on 30 June of the reference year and are published by sex and single year of age. This product is the official set of population estimates by marital status for England & Wales, published annually.

The estimates are based on Census data, updated each year using the cohort component method with a combination of registration and survey data sources. Population estimates by marital status have a number of uses, both direct and indirect, informing policy decisions at a national level.

Supporting Material

Population Estimates by Marital Status: Methodology

Population estimates by marital status - methods and availability across UK countries

Quality and Methodology Information

Data

Marital Status Population Estimates Including Marriages Abroad - Mid 2010 (164.2 Kb ZIP)

Marital Status Population Estimates Excluding Marriages Abroad - Mid 2010 (164.9 Kb ZIP)

Marital Status Population Estimates Including Marriages Abroad - Mid 2009 (82.7 Kb ZIP)

Marital Status Population Estimates Excluding Marriages Abroad - Mid 2009 (82.9 Kb ZIP)

Marital Status Population Estimates Including Marriages Abroad - Mid 2002 to Mid 2008 (108.8 Kb ZIP)

Marital Status Population Estimates Excluding Marriages Abroad - Mid 2002 to Mid 2008 (108.8 Kb ZIP)

Marital Status Population Estimates - Mid 1991 to Mid 2001 (123.1 Kb ZIP)

Marital Status Population Estimates - Mid 1986 (80 Kb ZIP)

Marital Status Population Estimates - Mid 1971 to Mid 1981 (119.4 Kb ZIP)

These National Statistics are produced to high professional standards and released according to the arrangements approved by the UK Statistics Authority.

Content from the Office for National Statistics.
© Crown Copyright applies unless otherwise stated.

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