Nearly a third of people in the Forest of Dean were single as the number of marriage and civil partnerships dropped in the past decade, new census figures show.
The area follows 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 the Forest of Dean when the census took place last year was 22,924, up from 18603 in 2011.
Of those aged 16 and older in the Forest of Dean, 31.4% were single – an increase on 27.4% in 2011.
The picture was similar across England and Wales last year, where 37.9% of people 16 and older were single, up from 34.6% in 2011.
And 49.6% of people in the Forest of Dean were married or in a civil partnership last year – down from 53.4% 10 years prior.
Data from the census shows 35,920 people were in opposite sex marriages last year, down from 36,147 in 2011.
An additional 188 were in same sex marriages in the Forest of Dean last year – they were illegal in 2011.
The figures also show 106 people were in same sex civil partnerships last year and 48 were in opposite sex civil partnerships. There were 147 people in civil partnerships 10 years prior, which were only allowed for same sex couples at the time.
There were 7,210 divorced people and 11 people with a dissolved civil partnership in the Forest of Dean last year, making up 9.9% of people aged 16 and over.
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% of those aged 16 and older. And 9.1% of the population were divorced or no longer in a civil partnership, up slightly from 9% a decade prior.