In 2023, the divorce rate in Germany lay at about 35.74 percent. The highest divorce rate at almost 52 percent was recorded in 2005. Since then, divorce rates have ranged between 30 and 50 percent. The divorce rate compares the number of marriages with the number of divorces in the same period under review. Accordingly, the divorce rate does not provide any information about the ‘divorce risk’ of a particular marriage cohort, as the divorces do not relate to a marriage year.

In 2023, around a quarter of all divorces in Germany were in marriages lasting between six and ten years.16.6 percent of marriages ended between zero and five years after they began.

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.

In 2023, there were around 2.8 marriages for every divorce in Germany. Figures peaked in the 1960s, then have generally been decreasing, apart from in 1979, when there was a large peak.

2023, there were 129,008 divorces in Germany. This was a decrease compared to the previous and the lowest figure for a number of years. Figures increased steadily since the 1950s and peaking in the early 2000s. In Germany, the term divorce refers to the formal legal dissolution of a marriage. From 2019, the figures also include divorces of same-sex marriages.

In 2023, there were around 65,600 divorces in which children were involved in Germany. Although this was a decrease compared to the previous year, the number of divorces of couples with and without children has remained fairly similar over the time period.

The data package consists of various files that contain different types of information, mainly focusing on anonymous swingers’ data in various regions:

1. Residents Data (tabular)

Focus: Demographic and socio-economic data at the county level, focusing on the swinger community. It includes median ages, populationdensities, and economic factors.Unique Aspects: Inclusion of demographic details like age groups, employment sectors, and divorce rates, allowing for a deeper socio-economicanalysis.Format: The data are provided in both *.xlsx and *.sav formats, allowing sharing and long-term access to the data.

1. Software

Python scripts used for data conversion and structuring are provided for transparency reasons.

1. Calculation Results Files

Files related to various calculations which had led to the specific design of the data are provided for transparency reasons. They are provided in*.xlsx, *.pdf, and *md format, as is most convenient to adequately reflext the respective content.

Please refer to the file readme.md for more details.

In 2020, Germany had aproximately 143,801 divorces taking place, which was the highest in the European Union. France had the second highest number of divorces at 128,043.

English:
The HaSpaD project harmonizes and pools longitudinal data for the analysis of partnership biographies from nine German survey programs. These are in detail:

• The German Family Panel (pairfam), Data file Version 12.0.0
• ALLBUS/GGSS 1980-2016 (Kumulierte Allgemeine Bevölkerungsumfrage der Sozialwissenschaften / Cumulated German General Social Survey 1980-2016)
• Family Surveys 1988-2000 (Change and Development of Forms of Family Life in West Germany (Survey of Families), Family and Partner Relations in Eastern Germany (Survey of Families), Change and Development of Ways of Family Life - 2nd Wave (Survey of Families), Change and Development of Families` Way of Life - 3rd Wave (Family Survey))
• Mannheim Divorce Study 1996
• German Fertility and Family Survey (FFS) 1992
• German Life History Studies (Courses of Life and Historical Change in East Germany (Life History Study LV DDR), Courses of Life and Social Change: Courses of Life and Welfare Development (Life History Study LV-West I), Courses of Life and Social Change: The Between-the-War Cohort in Transition to Retirement (Life History Study LV-West II A - Personal Interview), Courses of Life and Social Change: The Between-the-War Cohort in Transition to Retirement (Life History Study LV-West II T - Telephone Interview), Courses of Life and Social Change: Access to Occupation in Employment Crisis (Life History Study LV-West III), East German Life Courses After Unification (Life History Study LV-Ost Panel), East German Life Courses After Unification (Life History Study LV Ost 71), Education, Training, and Occupation: Life Courses of the 1964 and 1971 Birth Cohorts in West Germany (Life History Study LV-West 64/71), Early Careers and Starting a Family: Life Courses of the 1971 Birth Cohorts in East and West Germany (Life History Study LV-Panel 71))
• Generations & Gender Survey (German Subsample) GGS Waves 1 and 2
• The Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), German Sample (Share Waves 1, 2, and 3) and
• Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP), data for the years 1984-2018.
  

The HaSpaD projects does not distribute own datasets. Instead, the HaSpaD syntax package allows to harmonize and pool all German surveys with partnership biographical data which are available for secondary use via a research data repository. Data access to these source data must be arranged autonomously by users of the HaSpaD syntax. The scripts harmonize and pool the partnership biographical data, as well as additional variables on respondents and their partnerships. These include, for example, gender, religious affiliation, and nationality of the respondents. The pooled data set provides the opportunity to analyse previously unanswered questions on marriage and partnership stability from a historical and life course theoretical perspective, in particular on the long-term increase in divorce rates and on social changes in risk factors for separation. In addition, methodological developments of research syntheses will be facilitated.


Deutsch:
Das HaSpaD-Projekt harmonisiert und kumuliert Längsschnittdaten zur Analyse von Partnerschaftsbiografien aus neun deutschen Umfrageprogrammen. Dies sind im Einzelnen:

• Beziehungs- und Familienpanels pairfam, Release 12.0
• Kumulierte Allgemeine Bevölkerungsumfrage der Sozialwissenschaften (ALLBUS / GGSS) 1980-2016
• Familiensurvey 1988 - 2000 (Wandel und Entwicklung familialer Lebensformen in Westdeutschland (Familiensurvey), Familie und Partnerbeziehungen in Ostdeutschland (Familiensurvey), Wandel und Entwicklung familialer Lebensformen - 2. Welle (Familiensurvey), Wandel und Entwicklung familialer Lebensformen - 3. Welle (Familiensurvey))
• Mannheimer Scheidungsstudie 1996
• Deutscher Fertility and Family Survey 1992
• Lebensverlaufsstudien (Lebensverläufe und historischer Wandel in Ostdeutschland (Lebensverlaufsstudie LV-DDR), Lebensverläufe und gesellschaftlicher Wandel: Lebensverläufe und Wohlfahrtsentwicklung (Lebensverlaufsstudie LV-West I), Lebensverläufe und gesellschaftlicher Wandel: Die Zwischenkriegskohorte im Übergang zum Ruhestand (Lebensverlaufsstudie LV-West II A - Persönliche Befragung), Lebensverläufe und gesellschaftlicher Wandel: Die Zwischenkriegskohorte im Übergang zum Ruhestand (Lebensverlaufsstudie LV-West II T - Telefonische Befragung), Lebensverläufe und gesellschaftlicher Wandel: Berufszugang in der Beschäftigungskr...

English:

The data set contains 503 variables and 624 observations on suicides and suicide rates as well as on demographic, socio-structural, infrastructure and crime statistics on the canton and national level for the years 1952 to 1990. The information was recorded and processed by GDR’s Central Bureau of Statistics on a yearly basis. The statistical yearbooks of the GDR and various files of the Federal Archive were used as the sources of this data.

The demographic statistics include the population distribution by gender and age-groups, the incidence of deaths, homicides, births, stillbirths, as well as infant mortality and domestic migration rates by year and administrative district. The socio-structural information includes marriage and divorce rates, population distribution by education, employment and religious denomination, as well as the number of members and candidates of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany by year and district. The infrastructure data contains information on population density, residential housing construction and retail sales by year and administrative canton. The annual numbers of offenders of criminally liable age and convicted persons in the districts that come from the GDR crime statistics were included in the data set from the GDR crime statistics.

Missing values indicate that no information could be found for the given year or region. However, the missing information on the distribution by gender and age-groups, as well as suicide rates by age-group can be estimated using the attached do-files. A detailed description of how the missing values have been determined can be found in the document “Imputation und Standardisierung.pdf”. The do-files and the description are available in a zip file below.

Deutsch:

Dieser Datensatz umfasst 503 Variablen und 624 Beobachtungen. Er beinhaltet Informationen zu Suizidzahlen sowie demographische, sozialstrukturelle, infrastrukturelle Statistiken und Kriminalstatistiken in den Bezirken der DDR sowie des gesamten Landes von 1952 bis 1990. In der DDR war die Staatliche Zentralverwaltung für Statistik (SZS) für die Sammlung und Aufbereitung der verschiedenen Jahresstatistiken zuständig, weshalb die langen Zeitreihen größtenteils aus dem Primärbestand der SZS ermittelt und anschließend vergleichbar über die Bezirke und den Zeitverlauf berechnet wurden. Als Recherchequellen dienen die statistischen Jahrbücher der DDR sowie verschiedene Akten des Bundesarchivs.

Die demographischen Statistiken umfassen die jährlichen bezirksspezifischen Verteilungen der Geschlechter, Altersgruppen, Verstorbenen, Ermordeten, Lebendgeborenen, Totgeborenen, gestorbenen Säuglinge und Binnenmigration. Die sozialstrukturellen Informationen umfassen Angaben zu regionalen Verteilungen der Eheschließung, Ehescheidung, Bildung, Beschäftigung und Konfession sowie Statistiken über die Mitgliedschaft und Kandidatur für eine Mitgliedschaft bei der SED. Die verschiedenen infrastrukturellen Daten umfassen jährliche Statistiken der Bevölkerungsdichte, des Wohnungsbaus und des Einzelhandelsumsatzes in den Bezirken der DDR. Zudem wurden aus der Kriminalstatistik der DDR die jährliche Anzahl der strafmündigen Täter und der Verurteilten in den Bezirken in den Datensatz aufgenommen.

Missings werden in dem Datensatz ausgewiesen, wenn für bestimmte Jahre oder Regionen keine Zahlen recherchiert werden konnten bzw. die Informationen nicht erhoben wurden. Fehlende Suizidzahlen und fehlende Bevölkerungszahlen in bestimmten Altersgruppen können mittels der beigefügten Do-Files geschätzt und importiert werden. Eine ausführliche Beschreibung der Bestimmung der fehlenden Zahlen lassen sich dem Dokument „Imputation und Standardisierung.pdf“ entnehmen. Zudem ist ein unverzerrter Vergleich der Suizidraten über Regionen und Zeit nur anhand von standardisierten Suizidraten möglich. Auch dieses Vorgehen der indirekten Standardisierung ist im genannten Dokument beschrieben und kann anhand der Do-Files repliziert werden. Sie sind unten in einer Zip-Datei verfügbar.

This statistic depicts the global views on divorce as of 2013. Half or more people in India, Kenya, Pakistan, Uganda, and Ghana say that getting a divorce is morally unacceptable. In contrast, relatively few hold this view in Egypt (7%), Germany (7%), Jordan (6%), France (5%) and Spain (4%). The divorce rate in the United States can be accessed here.

Since the mid-2000s the average age at first wedding in France increased gradually, for both men and women. It seems to be common for the first marriage to be celebrated later and later in Western countries. For example, the median age at first marriage in the United States went from 26.8 years old for males and 25 years old for females in 1997, up to 30.3 years old for males and 28.4 for females in 2019. Same thing occurred in Europe where Sweden was the country where the median age at first wedding was the oldest in 2019.

French people wait longer to marry

According to the source, in 2004, the average age at first wedding for French men was 30.8 compared to 28.8 for women. If men still tend to be older than women at first marriage, the average age at marriage for both males and females increased from 2004 to 2021. In 2021, men were aged on average 39.2 at their first wedding, compared to 36.8 for women. Most marriages in France happened between men and women despite the implementation of same-sex marriage in 2013. Mean age at gay marriages appear to be even older than in different-sex wedding.

Marriage and divorce in France

Thus, the percentage of married persons in France decreased since 2006, while the share of single and divorced people rose. However, in 2016, France was the second European country with the highest number of marriages behind Germany. On the other hand, like most other Western nations, France also has an important divorce rate. In 2016, the number of French divorces was of 55 per 100 marriages.