Almost a third of adults in Northumberland are single

This follows a national trend - with the rate of single people increasing since the last census in 2011.

The number of people considered single – never having been in a civil partnership or marriage – in the area when the census took place last year was 82,048, up from 72424 in 2011.

Of those aged 16 and older in Northumberland, 30.5% were single – up from 27.6% in 2011.

The picture was similar in England and Wales last year, where 37.9% of people 16 and older were single, up from 34.6% in 2011.

The census data shows 49.3% of people in Northumberland were married or in a civil partnership last year – down from 52.3% 10 years prior.

It also shows 131,483 people were in opposite sex marriages last year – down from 136,537 in 2011 and that 646 were in same sex marriages.

There were also 26,642 divorced people and 49 people with a dissolved civil partnership in Northumberland

John Wroth-Smith, census deputy director, said: "We can see that the proportion of people in a marriage or civil partnership has declined, which follows the long-term trend and the number of people who were never married or in a civil partnership has increased.”

Nationally, 21.7 million people were married or in a civil partnership and 9.1% of the population were divorced or no longer in a civil partnership.