Number of unmarried couples 'will soar over next 25 years'

The number of unmarried couples living together will rise dramatically over the next 25 years, according to new statistics.

Expensive weddings, lavish honeymoons and platinum wedding rings will all be cast aside as the proportion of couples in wedlock drops to 42 per cent in 2033, down seven per cent on the latest figures.

Instead, more and more people will decide to co-habit, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics.

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The number of co-habiting couples stands at 2.3 million. This is expected to reach 3.8 million in 2033.

Meanwhile, the proportion of those co-habiting who have never previously married is expected to rise from 74 per cent to 87 per cent.

Since 1978, more and more couples have decided against tying the knot. In 1978, 50 per cent of people were married. In mid-2008, that figure stood at only 40 per cent, down 41,000 on the previous year.

Divorce has also escalated. In 1978 only two per cent of couples split. Thirty years on, seven per cent of couples divorce.

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Other statistics show the country's population rose by 394,000 last year, according to statistics out today.

The country's population stood at 61.8 million in 2008-09, up 0.6 per cent on the previous year.

The increase is in line with previous years over the last decade but it is only the second time since 2000 that migration has not been the main cause of a population rise. In 2008-09 there were 123,000 more births than seven years earlier.

Net migration, the difference between immigration and emigration, fell last year.

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The country's population rose by 176,000 as a result of migration, down on the previous year by 15,000. But it is still 23 per cent higher than in 2002 when net migration stood at 143,000.

Immigration Minister Damian Green said yesterday the Government was keen to slash the number of migrants coming to the UK, which stood at 562,000 last year, down slightly on the previous year.