Civil Partnerships in England and Wales

Annual statistics on formations and dissolutions of civil partnerships analysed by the sex, age, partnership type and previous marital status of the couples and the place of registration.

Main points

• In 2021, there were 6,731 civil partnerships formed in England and Wales, a decrease of 19.4% from 8,351 in 2020.
• The number and timing of civil partnership formations and dissolutions granted during 2020 and 2021 may have been affected by restrictions around ceremonies and receptions, and disruption to registration services and family court activities in England and Wales during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
• The majority (5,692) of civil partnership formations in 2021 were between opposite-sex couples; this is a decrease of a quarter (24.8%) from 7,566 in 2020, the first full year that opposite-sex civil partnerships had been possible in England and Wales.
• There were 1,039 same-sex civil partnerships formed in England and Wales in 2021, an increase of 32.4% from 785 in 2020; of these, the majority of formations were among male couples (56.9%).
• Around one in three males and females entering an opposite-sex civil partnership in 2021 had previously been married or in a civil partnership; less than one in five women, and one in six men, forming same-sex civil partnerships had previously been in a legally registered partnership.
• The age distribution of people forming opposite-sex civil partnerships is older than those forming same-sex civil partnerships; more than half (58.1%) of all people forming opposite-sex civil partnerships in 2021 were aged 50 years and over, whereas this age group accounts for 44.9% of same-sex civil partners.