Number of marriages in Scotland 2000-2018

There were over 27.5 thousand marriages in Scotland during 2018, a decrease of around 900 marriages when compared with the previous year. Same sex marriage was legalized in Scotland on December 16, 2014 following the Marriage and Civil Partnership Act. Compared with 2000, there was a net decrease of around 2.77 thousand marriages by 2018.

Almost half of Scots married
In 2017, 47 percent of Scots were either married or in a civil partnership, with a further 36 percent of people being single. Divorced and widowed Scots both made up seven percent of the population each, while separated but still legally married Scots accounted for just two percent of the population in this year. For Scots who were married, 33 percent were aged between 45 and 59 with the next most common age group being those aged between 60 and 74 at 28 percent of married people.

Divorces in Decline
There were only 7.9 thousand divorces in Scotland in 2016/17, a net decrease of 5.8 thousand divorces than there were ten years earlier in 2006/07. Although that year saw a spike in the number of divorces, they declined in ever year since then, leading to the relatively few divorces seen in 2016/17.