UK cities with the most single people: Most residents of Manchester are not hitched

Over 17 million people in the UK are single

Single people take part in a speed dating event in New York (STAN HONDA/AFP/Getty Images)

Singletons looking for love should head to Manchester, where the biggest portion of Britain's 17 million unattached adults live.

Across the UK, as many as 1 in 3 people over the age of 16 are not married or in a civil partnership, according to data collated by Channel 4 from the most recent national census.

As almost 55 per cent of Mancunians are single, more people in the metropolitan city are without a long-term partner than with.

Following closely behind Manchester on the list are Oxford, Cambridge, Nottingham, and Brighton and Hove - where there are a similarly high number of unmarried people.

Channel 4 released the data as it searches for participants for the third series of its show First Dates, although the success rate of its past series show that merely going on a date is not enough to secure long-lasting love.

The research follows a study which showed that people who earn less are less likely to marry, and rich people are twice as likely to get married now compared with 15 years ago.

The UK’s cities with the highest percentage of single people:

1. Manchester (54.9 per cent) - 222,585 (Number of single people)

2. Oxford 53.8 - 68,206

3. Cambridge 52.6 - 55,781

4. Nottingham 51.3 - 128,363

5. Brighton and Hove 50.1 - 114,826

6. Liverpool 49.7 - 193,012

7. Glasgow 49.2 - 244,831

8. Bristol 47.0 - 164,225

9. Norwich 46.9 - 51,978

10. Belfast 46.6 - 106,568

11. Newcastle upon Tyne 46.5 -108,033

12. Edinburgh 45.3 - 183,143

=12. Southampton 45.3 - 88,491

14. Cardiff 45.0 - 127,380

15. London 44.1 - 2,888,944

16. Lincoln 44.0 - 34,402

17. Exeter 43.7 - 43,302

18. Portsmouth 43.5 - 72,820

19. Salford 43.4 - 81,837

20. Dundee 43.2 - 53,321

21. Reading 43.1 - 54,161

22. Aberdeen 42.7 - 56,117

23. Kingston upon Hull 42.1 - 87,661

24. Birmingham 41.6 - 344,818

= 24. Derry 41.6 - 34,794