The number of people in Powys and Gwynedd who are single has increased, new census figures show, but Ceredigion is bucking the national trend.

Powys and Gwynedd follow trends across England and Wales, where the rate of single people has increased since the last census in 2011.

The number of people considered single – never having been in a civil partnership or marriage – in Gwynedd when the census took place last year was 39,248, up from 36,781 in 2011.

Of those aged 16 and older in Gwynedd, 40.1 per cent were single – an increase on 36.4 per cent in 2011.

In Powys, the number of singles at the time of last year’s census was 34,692, up from 31,079 in 2011. Of those aged 16 and older, 30.8 per cent were single – an increase on 28.2 per cent in 2011.

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

However, in Ceredigion, the number of single people has dropped, from 25,047 in 2011 to 23,766 in 2021.

Meanwhile, the number of people who were married or in a civil partnership last year were: 41.5 per cent in Gwynedd, down from 44.1 per cent; 48.9 per cent in Powys, down from 51.3 per cent; 43.1 per cent in Ceredigion, up from 43 per cent.

Data from the census shows 40,209 people in Gwynedd were in opposite sex marriages last year, down from 44,330 in 2011; 54,467 in Powys, down from 56,263; 26,133 in Ceredigion, down from 27,711.

An additional 200 were in same sex marriages in Gwynedd last year, 218 in Powys and 159 in Ceredigion – they were illegal in 2011.

The figures also show 151 people were in same sex civil partnerships last year and 94 were in opposite sex civil partnerships. There were 140 people in civil partnerships 10 years prior, which were only allowed for same sex couples at the time.

There were 9,033 divorced people and 7 people with a dissolved civil partnership in Gwynedd last year, making up 9.2 per cent of people aged 16 and over.

In Powys, 214 people were in same sex civil partnerships and 88 were in opposite sex civil partnerships. There were 223 in civil partnerships a decade ago.

There were 11,462 divorced people and 16 people with a dissolved civil partnership, making up 10.2 per cent of people aged 16 and over in Powys.

And in Ceredigion, 116 people were in same sex civil partnerships and 60 in opposite sex civil partnerships. There were 113 in civil partnerships 10 years prior.

There were 5,670 divorced people and 11 people with a dissolved civil partnership in Ceredigion last year, making up 9.3 per cent of over-16s.

John Wroth-Smith, Census deputy director, said: “When looking a bit deeper, we can see that the proportion of people in a marriage or civil partnership has declined, which follows the long-term trend of declining marriages.”

“Conversely, the number of people who were never married or in a civil partnership has increased by almost 3 million,” Mr Wroth-Smith added.

Nationally, 21.7 million people were married or in a civil partnership – making up 45 per cent of those aged 16 and older. And 9.1 per cent of the population were divorced or no longer in a civil partnership, up slightly from 9 per cent a decade prior.