Marital Status
1.25 As for England as a whole, the largest group by marital status in 2005 was those who are single and have never married, but at 40.7% of the population this is the lowest proportion for any English region. This may reflect a tendency to cohabit rather than marry, as the South West has the highest rate of cohabitation (equal with the South East) at 30% of the population aged 16-59. The region has the highest proportion of divorced people at 7.2%, compared to the England figure of 6.6%, and the highest proportion of remarried at 7.3%, compared to England’s 5.9%. Only the North East has a higher proportion of widows and widowers. 28,300 marriages took place in the South West in 2003.
