In 2024, there were about 2.2 million divorced people in Italy. Over 1.27 million were women, whereas men amounted to 909,000. Between 2015 and 2023, the number of divorced individuals in Italy increased.

The decision of ending a marriage is not always easy, but almost 82 percent of Italians believed that sometimes it was necessary. When asked about the reason for getting separated or divorced, the majority of Italians indicated betrayal or infidelity causing their decision. The second most common motive, pointed by about 17.5 percent of the interviewees, was the fact that the love between the two spouses was over.

Divorces in Italy on the rise

The number of Italian couples deciding to end their marriage has increased over the last years. In 2017, the country registered roughly 15.1 divorces per every 10,000 inhabitants, about six divorces more than in 2010. The region where most spouses decided to split up was Liguria, with 21 divorces per 10,000 individuals.

The Portuguese and Luxembourgish divorce the most

With 48.7 divorces for every 100 marriages, Italy ranked right behind the European top ten countries with the highest divorce rates in 2016. The ranking was led by Portugal and Luxembourg, which in the year considered registered about 69 and 66 divorces for every 100 marriages, respectively.

This statistic illustrates the number of divorces in Italy in 2017, by region, per 10,000 inhabitants. According to data, the highest number of divorces (roughly 21 every 10,000 inhabitants) was registered in Liguria, meanwhile Calabria was the region with the lowest number of divorces (9.8 divorces per 10,000 persons) among all the Italian regions.

This statistic illustrates the number of divorces in Italy from 2010 to 2017, per 10,000 inhabitants. According to data, the highest number of divorces (roughly 16 every 10,000 inhabitants) was registered in 2016.

As of January 1st, 2024, around 1.27 million divorced women lived in Italy. The region with the highest figure was Lombardy, with around 241,000 females whose their marriage was terminated. Lombardy also ranks as Italy's most populated region.

Sector: Family and social behaviours

Algorithm: Divorces on total birth families * 100

Phenomenon: Flow

Territorial comparisons: South Tyrol, North-East, Italy

As of January 2024, around 909,000 divorced men were living in Italy. The region with the highest number of divorced men was Lombardy, also the region with the highest resident population.

Every year, less and less Italians decide to walk down the aisle and join in the wedlock with their other half. In 2024, the country registered less than marriages per 1,000 individuals, one union less than in 2009. In 2020, the marriage rate dropped considerably due to the COVID-19 pandemic, reaching only 1.6 celebrations per 1,000 people. The region with the highest marriage rate in 2023 was Sicily, where 3.7 couples per 1,000 inhabitants got married. Brides and grooms always older Italians postpone to a later date their decision to tie the knot. Back in the 1990s, the average age of the Italian brides at marriage was 26.8 years, whereas in 2017 this figure was about 31 years. The average age of mothers at childbirth also increased in the last decades, augmenting almost by two years since 2002. In 2022, the mean age was 32.4 years. Various reasons of not getting married There are different motives why people decide not to get married. When asked about the reason they didn’t get married, the majority of Italian singles replied, that they did not find the right person. On the other hand, about 17 percent of individuals cohabiting together with their partner stated that they don’t believe in marriage, whereas roughly one-fourth of the respondents never felt the need to do it.

According to the 2020 UNIDOMO questionnaire, Portugal clearly led the list of European countries with the highest divorce rate per 100 marriages. With 91.5 divorces the Portuguese Republic led the list, followed by Spain and Luxembourg. All three countries boast a significantly higher share than the other European countries, each reporting a divorce rate over 80 divorces.

A different way to look at Portugal

While Portugal clearly has the most divorces per 100 marriages, looking at divorce rates per 1.000 inhabitants in other European countries alters the picture of the country as one unsettled by significant numbers of divorces. With nearly 1.7 divorces per 1,000 inhabitants Portugal has roughly the same divorce rate as Germany and the Netherlands. Interesting is furthermore that although marriages in Portugal tend to result in divorce lightly more often as in Luxembourg (80.3%), the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg experienced a 0.6 point higher divorce rate.

What about the rest of the World?

While compared with Latin American countries like Guatemala or Peru, ranked among the countries with the lowest divorce rates in the world, Luxembourg’s divorce rate seems excessive. However, when compared with divorce rates (per 1.000 inhabitants) of countries like the United States (2.7) or China (3.5) divorce rates from Luxembourg and Europe are not out of the ordinary.

The island of Sicily was the region with the highest marriage rate in 2023, with 3.7 marriages per 1,000 inhabitants. Located in the south as well, Campania followed with 3.6 marriages every 1,000 people. In Lombardy and Lazio, the two most populated regions, the rate was less than three celebrations per 1,000 residents, while Sardinia was the Italian territory where the fewest marriages were performed.

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In 2020, about 4.4 million widowed people were living in Italy. Data broken down by gender show that there were about 750 thousand widows and 3.6 million widowers in the country.

In 2019, 2.3 thousand same-sex civil partnerships were recorded in Italy. The majority of them were civil unions between two men, while unions among women added up to 869. Indeed, partnerships between women represented the lowest share since civil unions were legally recognized in June 2016.

In 2019, Lazio had the highest number of same-sex civil unions in proportion to its population. That year, there were 6.1 civil partnerships per every 100,000 residents. Lombardy, in the North, had 5.6 unions, the second highest rate in Italy, followed by Tuscany, and Liguria. Nationwide, there were 2.3 thousand same-sex unions in 2019. Civil unions have been legally recognized in Italy since June 2016.

In 2019, the largest number of marriages was celebrated in June (32.8 thousand). The month in which the lowest amount of people got married was January. In total, 1984 thousand weddings took place in Italy that year.

In 2023, around 3,000 same-sex civil partnerships were recorded in Italy. In 2017, they amounted to over 4,000. Italy legally recognized civil unions in June 2016. In 2018, a survey conducted among the Italian population showed that about four in ten respondents considered the law as an important step for granting equal rights to same-sex couples.