More than half of people in Manchester are single, latest Census shows

More than half of people in Manchester were single as the number of marriage and civil partnerships dropped across the country in the past decade, new census figures show.

The area follows trends across England and Wales, where the rate of single people has increased since the last census in 2011. The number of people considered single – never having been in a civil partnership or marriage – in Manchester when the census took place last year was 244,564, up from 222,585 in 2011. Of those aged 16 and older in Manchester, 55.8% were single – an increase on 54.9% in 2011.

The picture was similar across England and Wales last year, where 37.9% of people 16 and older were single, up from 34.6% in 2011. And 31.3% of people in Manchester were married or in a civil partnership last year – up from 29.7% 10 years prior.

Data from the census shows 134,260 people were in opposite sex marriages last year, up from 119,191 in 2011. An additional 1,678 were in same sex marriages in Manchester last year – they were not legal in 2011.

The figures also show 822 people were in same sex civil partnerships last year and 328 were in opposite sex civil partnerships. There were 1,363 people in civil partnerships 10 years prior, which were only allowed for same sex couples at the time.

There were 28,950 divorced people and 141 people with a dissolved civil partnership in Manchester last year, making up 6.6% of people aged 16 and over.

John Wroth-Smith, Census deputy director, said: “When looking a bit deeper, we can see that the proportion of people in a marriage or civil partnership has declined, which follows the long-term trend of declining marriages.

“Conversely, the number of people who were never married or in a civil partnership has increased by almost 3 million.”

Nationally, 21.7 million people were married or in a civil partnership – making up 45% of those aged 16 and older. And 9.1% of the population were divorced or no longer in a civil partnership, up slightly from 9% a decade prior.