Number of single people in Mansfield has increased in the past decade as marriage rates fall

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 Mansfield when the census took place last year was 31,949, up from 26,680 in 2011.

Of those aged 16 and older in Mansfield, 35.4 per cent were single, an increase on 31.2 per cent in 2011.

The picture was similar across England and Wales last year, where 37.9 per cent of people 16 and older were single, up from 34.6 per cent in 2011.

And 44.6 per cent of people in Mansfield were married or in a civil partnership last year​ –​ down from 47.8 per cent 10 years prior.

Data from the census shows 39,834 people were in opposite sex marriages last year, down from 40,701 in 2011.

An additional 214 were in same sex marriages in Mansfield last year – they were illegal in 2011.

The figures also show 75 people were in same sex civil partnerships last year and 62 were in opposite sex civil partnerships. There were 146 people in civil partnerships 10 years prior, which were only allowed for same sex couples at the time.

There were 9,640 divorced people and 18 people with a dissolved civil partnership in Mansfield last year, making up 10.7 per cent of people aged 16 and over.

John Wroth-Smith, Census deputy director, said: “When looking a bit deeper, we can see 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 never married or in a civil partnership has increased by almost three million."

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