The National Records of Scotland (NRS) has published details on the number of births, deaths, marriages and civil partnerships that took place in Scotland during 2012.
According to the figures, there were 30,534 marriages in Scotland last year, an increase of 4.8% on the figure for 2011 and the third consecutive annual increase. In addition, in 2012:
- 58,027 births were registered – 563 (1.0%) fewer than in 2011.
- 54,937 deaths were registered – 1,276 (2.4%) more than in 2011.
Despite the rise in marriage numbers, Tim Ellis, Registrar General and Chief Executive of NRS, commented: “In historic terms, the number of marriages in 2012 was relatively low, compared with averages of over 40,000 marriages per year in the early 1960s."
According to the NRS, 2012 is the fourth year that the number of births has fallen (following increases in each of the previous six years). The average age of mothers has increased from 27.7 in 1992 to 29.7 in 2012. Similarly, the average age of fathers has increased from 30.3 in 1992 to 32.5 in 2012.
In 2012, 51.3% of babies were born to unmarried couples, the highest percentage ever recorded. This figure has risen in most years since the start of the 1970s, and exceeded 10% in 1979, 20% in 1986, 30% in 1992, 40% in 1999 and 50% in 2008.
The figures also show that in 2012 there were 574 civil partnerships – 257 male couples and 317 female couples - 20 more than during 2011.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v1.0.
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