"Figure 2: Number of marriages of same-sex couples 2014 to 2015 and civil partnerships, 2006 to 2016","" "England and Wales","" "","" "Notes","1. Following the introduction of the [Civil Partnership Act 2004] (http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2004/33/contents), the first day that couples could normally form a civil partnership was 21 December 2005 in England and Wales. Civil partnerships remain available to same-sex couples following the introduction of marriages for same-sex couples. 2. An announcement was made in December 2013 that marriages of same-sex couples could be formed in England and Wales from 29 March 2014. " "Unit","Number" "","" "","Male civil partnerships","Female civil partnerships","Male marriages","Female marriages" "2006","9003","5940","","" "2007","4371","3558","","" "2008","3536","3022","","" "2009","2962","2725","","" "2010","2868","2936","","" "2011","3171","2981","","" "2012","3138","3224","","" "2013","2673","2973","","" "2014","954","729","2129","2721" "2015","570","291","2860","3633" "2016","604","286","",""