20% of last year's New Zealand Civil Unions were for opposite-sex couples, say new official figures released today. There were 397 civil unions registered to New Zealand residents in 2006, confirms Dallas Welch, Acting Government Statistician at Statistics New Zealand. “These comprised 319 same-sex unions (131 male and 188 female) and 78 opposite-sex unions. Same-sex couples registering civil unions last year were roughly eight years older than opposite-sex couples. There were no transfers to a civil union from marriage. There were 33 civil unions registered to overseas residents, making a total of 430 registrations,” says Welsh. The median age of both men and women who registered a same-sex civil union in 2005 and 2006 was 41 years. The median age for opposite-sex civil unions were 34 years for men and 32 years for women – slightly older than the median age for marriage (33 and 30 years respectively). “Because civil union registrations are relatively new, the current age characteristics may not reflect long-term trends,” Welsh advises. The Civil Union Act 2004 came into force on 26 April 2005 and the first ceremonies were celebrated on 29 April 2005. Same-sex relationships have been legally recognised in Scandinavian countries for some years. Denmark introduced 'registered partnerships' in October 1989, with Norway and Sweden following suit in the mid-1990s and Finland in 2002. Since New Zealand introduced civil unions in April 2005, a number of other countries, for example, the United Kingdom, have adopted this approach. Some countries, such as Spain and Canada, have extended the right to marry to same-sex couples. Although some countries have legal registration of same-sex unions, legal rights and requirements vary across countries. Ref: Statistics New Zealand (m)