Two hundred and fifty-three same-sex couples civilly united last year, according to official figures released by Statistics New Zealand today.
Of the 316 civil unions registered to New Zealand residents in 2007, 103 were male couples, 150 were female couples and 63 were opposite-sex unions choosing a civil union instead of a marriage.
There were also 77 civil unions registered to overseas residents, making a total of 393 registrations.
2007's same-sex civil union figures are down slightly from 2006's 131 male-male and 188 female-female unions.
Perhaps the most high-profile civil union last year was the ceremony of Labour MP Tim Barnett and his partner Ramon Maniapoto in November at Waitetoko Marae.
Barnett helped to formulate New Zealand's Civil Union legislation, which came into force in April 2005.
