13. Quality and methodology

This is the first time that final marriage statistics for England and Wales have been published for 2016. The release provides final annual data.

It is currently only possible to publish final annual marriage statistics around 26 months after the end of the reference year. This is due to delays in the submission of marriage entries by the clergy and authorised persons. It is estimated that each year around 4% of religious marriage returns remain outstanding one year after the end of the reference period (this is based on marriage records received at the Office for National Statistics (ONS)); this directly affects the timing of statistical outputs. This may be due to a number of factors such as the closure of a building or change of incumbent.

An electronic system has been introduced to track returns from every building in which marriages may be solemnised. This provides data that enables the General Register Office (GRO) to identify potential outstanding returns and take targeted action via the local registrar. In addition, the GRO has also improved communications with all denominations via a regular newsletter, covering a range of topics including the importance of providing the timely return of copies of marriage records.

Marriage statistics are published once we consider the annual dataset is acceptably complete. Marriage records received after our annual dataset is taken are not included in published figures. Table 1 in our User guide to marriage statistics shows that the difference between the number of marriages stored on our database, and the number included in our publications each year, has been less than 0.5% since 2002. Although this means some marriages are not included in the statistics, it is a compromise that must be taken to publish as timely data as possible. We hope to improve the timeliness of marriage statistics in future years. We continue to work with GRO, monitoring the receipt of marriage registrations and sending out reminders where delays are identified.

Marriage statistics are compiled to enable the analysis of social and demographic trends. They are also used for considering and monitoring policy changes, most recently the introduction of marriages of same-sex couples.

The Marriages Quality and Methodology Information report contains important information on:

the strengths and limitations of the data and how it compares with related data

uses and users of the data

how the output was created

the quality of the output: including the accuracy of the data

Our User guide to marriage statistics provides further information on data quality, legislation and procedures relating to marriages and includes a glossary of terms.

Marriage statistics are comparable between countries within the UK; more information on comparability is contained in the Marriages Quality and Methodology Information report.

The Revisions policy for population statistics (including marriage statistics) is available.

The mean (average) ages presented in this release have not been standardised for age and therefore do not take account of the changing structure of the population by age, sex and marital status.