More than a third of adults in Sunderland 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 city when the census took place last year was 87,451, up from 80195 in 2011.

Of those aged 16 and older in Sunderland, 38.7% were single – up from 35.3% 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 42.6% of people in Sunderland were married or in a civil partnership last year – down from 45.2% 10 years prior.

It also shows 95,634 people were in opposite sex marriages - down from 102,531 in 2011 and 467 were in same sex marriages.

There were also 20,366 divorced people and 38 people with a dissolved civil partnership in Sunderland.

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.