Number of marriages in Scotland 1855-2020

There were over 11.9 thousand marriages in Scotland in 2020, a decrease of around 14 thousand marriages when compared with the previous year, and likely a result of the Coronavirus pandemic . All marriages prior to 2014 are for opposite-sex marriages, same sex marriage was legalized in Scotland on December 16, 2014 following the Marriage and Civil Partnership Act. During this time period, the year with the most marriages was 1940, when there were over 53.5 thousand marriages.

Almost half of Scots married

In 2018, 47 percent of Scots were either married or in a civil partnership, with a further 37 percent of people being single. Divorced and widowed Scots made up 10 and 7 percent of the population respectively. For Scots who were married, 32 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 7.38 thousand divorces in Scotland in 2018/19, a net decrease of about 4 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 recent years.