First statistics on civil partnerships in Scotland

22 June 2006

Civil partnerships have been included with the statistics on births, deaths and marriages in Scotland for the first time.

A total of 343 have been recorded since the Civil Partnership Act came into force in December last year. Details of the civil partnerships registered during the first three months of 2006 are included in the report for the Quarterly Return, 1st Quarter 2006 published today by the Registrar General.

From January to March 2006, 259 civil partnerships (167 male and 92 female) were registered, with a further 84 (53 male and 31 female) in December 2005, bringing the number to 343.

Also, in the first three months of 2006 there were 13,568 births, an increase of 212 (1.6 per cent) compared to the same period last year. The number of deaths (14,876) was 741 (4.7 per cent) lower than in the first quarter of 2005.

Marriages in the first quarter of 2006 (3,493) were down by 9 per cent on the first quarter of 2005 (3,834).

Registrar General Duncan Macniven said:

‘These figures show births are up, deaths are down and fewer people got married in the first quarter of 2006 compared to last year.

“Over 300 couples have registered civil partnerships in Scotland since the Act came into force in December 2005. Local registrars have been exemplary in introducing this new legislation, helping same-sex partners to have a relaxed and happy experience on their important day.”

Notes to News Editors

1.The returns are available for viewing or downloading free of charge from this website.

2. Media Contact for this news release