Harrow had one of the highest rates of married people in England and Wales

Harrow had one of the highest rates of people married or in a civil partnership in England and Wales, new census figures show – with an increase over the last decade.

The area is in contrast to a national trend where fewer people were in legally recognised partnerships across England and Wales last year than in the last census in 2011.

And 53.9% of people in Harrow were married or in a civil partnership last year – one of the highest rates across England and Wales​ –​ up from 53.8% 10 years prior.

Data from the census shows 112,368 people were in opposite sex marriages last year, up from 102,502 in 2011.

An additional 322 were in same sex marriages in Harrow last year – they were illegal in 2011.

The figures also show 101 people were in same sex civil partnerships last year and 130 were in opposite sex civil partnerships. There were 306 people in civil partnerships 10 years prior, which were only allowed for same sex couples at the time.

This was different to trends across the two nations, where 21.7 million people were married or in a civil partnership last year – 44.6% of those aged 16 and older. A decade prior, 46.8% were married or in a civil partnership.

The number of people considered single – never having been in a civil partnership or marriage – in Harrow when the census took place last year was 69,622 (33.2%), up from 61610 (32.3%) in 2011.

There were 11,840 divorced people and 13 people with a dissolved civil partnership in Harrow last year, making up 5.7% 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," Mr Wroth-Smith added.

Nationally, 37.9% of people 16 and older were single in 2021 and 9.1% of the population were divorced or no longer in a civil partnership.