Fewer people between the ages of 25 and 34 had ever been married in Ceredigion and Powys than a decade ago, census data shows.

New figures from the 2021 Census of England and Wales show young people are increasingly likely to have never been married – as part of a decades-long decline in the number of people tying the knot.

Figures from the Office for National Statistics show of the 7,100 people aged between 25 and 34 in Ceredigion, 5,345 (75.3 per cent) had never been married as of March 2021. In 2011, this figure was 67.6 per cent.

Meanwhile, 23.2 per cent of people in Ceredigion of the same age were married, in a civil partnership, or separated while remaining married. This was a drop from 29.7 per cent in 2011.

Of the 13,230 people aged between 25 and 34 in Powys, 9,500 (71.8 per cent) had never been married as of March 2021. In 2011, this was 62.7 per cent.

Meanwhile, 26.3 per cent of people in Powys of the same age were married, in a civil partnership, or separated while remaining married - a drop from 34.5 per cent in a decade before.

Nationally, this age group saw the largest rise in people choosing not to marry.

But there were also more singletons among older groups – for those aged 35 to 49, 38.2 per cent had never been married in Ceredigion, up from 28.6 per cent in 2011; and 34.6 per cent had never been married in Powys, up from 25 per cent.

Steve Smallwood, demography topic lead at ONS, said: “The census gives us a fascinating picture of how society is changing and today’s analysis shows us for, example, that adults in same-sex marriages and civil partnerships are more likely to be younger, have no religion, and have higher level qualifications than adults in opposite-sex marriages.

Across England and Wales, 41.2 per cent of those with "no religion" had never been married or in a civil partnership – the highest of any religious group.

“When we account for age distribution, we can also see the proportions of adults overall who have never been married or civil partnered was highest among adults reporting “No religion” and within the black and mixed ethnic groups.”

The ONS said the average age for people in same-sex marriages was 44, compared with 55 for heterosexual married couples.

For same-sex civil partnerships the average age was 53.

Marriage has become less popular among all age groups – across England and Wales, 37.9 per cent of the population had never been married as of 2021, up from 34.6 per cent a decade ago and 26.3 per cent in 1991.