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

More than a third of people in St Helens were single as the number of marriage and civil partnerships dropped 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 St Helens when the census took place last year was 56,456, up from 47055 in 2011.

Of those aged 16 and older in St Helens, 37.5% were single – an increase on 32.8% 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 43.3% of people in St Helens were married or in a civil partnership last year​ –​ down from 47.4% 10 years prior.

Data from the census shows 64,513 people were in opposite sex marriages last year, down from 67,661 in 2011.

An additional 451 were in same sex marriages in St Helens last year – they were illegal in 2011.

The figures also show 116 people were in same sex civil partnerships last year and 106 were in opposite sex civil partnerships. There were 233 people in civil partnerships 10 years prior, which were only allowed for same sex couples at the time.

There were 14,322 divorced people and 35 people with a dissolved civil partnership in St Helens last year, making up 9.5% 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, 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.