The average age at which heterosexual couples marry has reached 35.7 years for women and 38 years for men, according to the latest official figures.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) recorded further declines in the number of couple’s opting for religious ceremonies and in overall marriages among opposite-sex couples in 2017.

Religious ceremonies accounted for less than one in four (23%) marriages between opposite-sex couples – the lowest on record – and only 0.6% of marriages between same-sex couples during that year.

The most popular date to get married in 2017 was 2 September, when 4,370 weddings took place; the least popular was Christmas Day with only three weddings.

Overall marriage rates for heterosexual couples are at their lowest level on record, continuing a long period of decline. There has been a 45% decrease since 1972.

There were 242,842 marriages registered in 2017 – a fall of 2.8% from 2016. Some 6,932 were between same-sex couples – 44% between male couples and 56% between females – a similar figure to 2016, the ONS added.

More than 1,000 couples converted their existing civil partnership into a marriage and 43 same-sex couples married in religious ceremonies in 2017.

The figures for average age at marriage appear to have levelled off in recent years, suggesting that the trend for later marriages may be reaching a limit.

Between the ages of 16 and 29, the number of women getting married is larger than the number of men. From the age of 30 onwards, however, the number of men getting married is greater than the number of women.

The average age for men to marry in 2017 was 38, while for women it was 35.7 among heterosexual couples. By comparison, the average age at marriage for same-sex couples was slightly higher, at 40.1 years for men and 36.6 years for women, the figures show.

Over the past decade there has been a steep drop in opposite-sex marriages between men and women under 20. By contrast, marriage rates for those aged 65 years and over have increased, climbing 31% for men and 89% for women, the ONS said.

Toby Yerburgh, the head of family law at the solicitors Collyer Bristow, said: “With the latest figures from the ONS showing a continuing year-on-year downward trend in marriages to the lowest level ever recorded, one has to ask whether the institution will survive the current [coronavirus] lockdown which has ruined so many people’s wedding plans this year.

“As couples eat into their savings for necessities, unlike divorces which seem set to increase, it is likely that marriages – particularly ones involving expensive wedding ceremonies – will continue to become increasingly rare. This makes the necessity for properly thought-through legislation regarding cohabitees’ rights – which has currently been stalled in parliament for over a year– all the more pressing.”