The number of civil weddings exceeded the number of weddings at the altar in 2016 and last year, figures given in parliament show.

And while the increase in civil weddings can be explained by the number of foreigners choosing to marry here, the number of church weddings has been in decline.

The prime minister gave the following figures for the past five years in reply to a question by Labour MP Byron Camilleri.

There were 1,547 church weddings in 2010 and 1,208 last year whereas the number of civil weddings rose from a mere 740 in 2010 to 1,452 in 2016, and 1,394 last year.

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