Marriages
There were 27,524 marriages in Scotland in 2009, 1,379 (4.8 per cent) fewer than in 2008. 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, but has fallen in each year since 2005. The highest total recorded since 1993 was 32,154 in 2004 whilst the 2009 total is the lowest since Victorian times.
The information in this section covers all marriages registered in Scotland, regardless of where the bride and groom lived. In 2009, there were 6,664 marriages (24 per cent) where neither the bride nor groom was resident in Scotland. This represents a slight fall from 7,354 (25 per cent) in 2008. Gretna continues to be a popular venue for marriages, though the 3,542 registered in 2009 was 15 per cent down on 2008 and over a third down on the record total of 5,555 in 2004. In 2009, 84 per cent (2,990) 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, 1971-2009
Marital status at marriage
Figure 6.2 shows the percentage of marriages by marital status at the time of marriage between 1971 and 2009. The percentage of people marrying who had been divorced rose from just under 6 per cent in 1971, to over a quarter in 2001 (28 per cent for grooms and 26 per cent 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 percentage fell slightly to 25 per cent in 2009 (26 per cent for grooms and 24 per cent for brides). The proportion of those marrying who were widowed has also declined slightly. In 2009 it was 2 per cent.
Figure 6.2 Marriages, by marital status and sex of persons marrying, 1971-2009
Age at marriage
The average age at marriage continues to rise for both males and females. For first marriages, the average age of grooms who were bachelors has risen from 30.1 in 1999 to 32.5 in 2009; the comparable figures for brides who were spinsters are 28.2 in 1999 and 30.7 in 2009.
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 14,238 civil marriages in 2009, when they accounted for just over half (52 per cent) of all marriages compared to just under one-third (31 per cent) in 1971 (Figure 6.3).
The trend in civil marriages mainly reflects a decline in the number of religious ceremonies during the past thirty to forty years. The small increase in religious marriages observed 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 marriages, from 16,890 in 2003 to 13,285 in 2009. 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 6,143 marriages in 2009. The other religious bodies conducting more than 500 marriages in 2009 were the Roman Catholic Church (1,788), Scottish Episcopal Church and other churches of the Anglican Communion (703), Assemblies of God (675) and the Methodist Church in Scotland (538).
Humanist celebrants have been authorised to conduct marriages in Scotland since 2005. In 2009 they officiated at 1,544 marriages, compared with 1,026 in 2008, 710 in 2007 and 434 in 2006.
Figure 6.3 Marriages, by type of ceremony, 1971-2009
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 June 2010, there were more than 800 approved venues in Scotland, including castles, hotels, clubs and a small number of outdoor venues in gardens or the countryside. During 2009, 7,431 civil ceremonies (27 per cent of all marriages and 52 per cent of civil marriages) were conducted at these ‘approved places’. Although showing a fall from the 8,003 ceremonies in 2008, this represented an increase of 114 per cent on 2003, the first full year of the new arrangements.
In 2009, 54 per cent of the religious marriages were celebrated in places of worship while just under half (48 per cent) of civil marriages took place in registration offices. Hotels were the venue for about 2,000 religious and 3,000 civil ceremonies, while approximately 1,100 religious and 1,000 civil marriages took place in castles and other historic buildings. Around 70 religious and 130 civil marriages were held on ships and barges or close to water.
Civil Partnerships
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 in 2006. In 2008, there was a further decrease to 525 registered partnerships and in 2009 there were 498 registrations – 219 male couples and 279 female couples (Figure 6.4).
Figure 6.4 Civil partnerships, 2006-2009
