Number of divorces and divorce rate per 1,000 marriages, by duration of marriage and place of occurrence, 1970 to most recent year.

In 2022, the divorce rate in the United States stood at 2.4 per 1,000 of the population. Divorce in the U.S. Divorce is the termination of a marital union. In the United States, as in most other countries, it is a legal process in which a judge or another legal authority dissolves the bonds of matrimony existing between two persons. The process of divorce also normally involves issues surrounding distribution of property, financial support of the former spouse, child custody and child support. A divorce also allows a person to marry again.In the United States, divorce is, like marriage, a matter for state governments, not the federal government. Although divorce laws vary from state to state, for example on which terms a divorce can be arranged, a divorce must be certified by a court of law to become effective. A declining divorce rate Over the last couple of years, both the marriage rate and the divorce rate have been declining in the United States. As of 2009, the average length of a first marriage in the U.S. was eight years, while the average length of a second marriage was about 10 years.

The graph illustrates the yearly percentage of divorces compared to marriages in the United States from 2000 (‘00) to 2023 (‘23). The x-axis shows years in two-digit form, while the y-axis shows the divorce-to-marriage percentage. During this period, the divorce percentage ranged from a high of about 41.7% in 2002 to a low of around 32.6% in 2022. The overall trend reflects a gradual decline in annual divorces relative to marriages, though year-to-year fluctuations remain. These figures should be viewed as approximate estimates.

In 2023, *** marriages were registered per 1,000 inhabitants in Russia, compared to *** divorces per 1,000 population. The marriage rate in the country saw an increase compared to the previous year. In 2011, *** marriages were registered per 1,000 Russians, which was the highest number recorded over the period under consideration. What do marriage and divorce rates mean? The crude marriage rate refers to the number of marriages per one thousand population, according to the United Nations Population Division. In total, around ******* marriages were registered in Russia in 2023, while the country’s population was estimated at ***** million in that year. Another indicator relevant to Russian demographics is the crude divorce rate, which is the number of divorces recorded in a year per 1,000 population, as defined by the United Nations Population Division. In total, nearly ******* divorces were registered in Russia in 2023. What do Russians think of marriage? In every age category, most Russians believed that being married and living in a family was most preferable in the society. However, the share of family and marriage supporters was the lowest among 18-to-24-year-olds, measuring at ** percent. Both for men and women, the ideal age to get married was considered in a person’s twenties.

This dataset presents the annual number of marriages and divorces over multiple years. It provides insights into trends in marital stability and societal changes in marriage and divorce rates. The data can be used for demographic studies, policy planning, and social research, helping to analyze patterns in family structures and relationship dynamics over time.

Number of divorces and various divorce indicators (crude divorce rate, divorce rate for married persons, age-standardized divorce rate, total divorce rate, mean and median duration of marriage, median duration of divorce proceedings, percentage of joint divorce applications), by place of occurrence, 1970 to most recent year.

In 2017, the highest divorce rate concerned five year-long marriages with **** divorces per thousand marriages. France counts five types of divorce proceedings, going from mutual consent to fault. This variety has been decided to modernize the process of divorce and has also instituted a new divorce without judiciary process. In a country where the divorce rate reached ** per every 100 marriages in 2016, couples do not always have to pass before the judge to get divorced.

The longer you are married, the least you are willing to get divorced

In 2017, divorces in France largely concerned marriages which lasted between 5 to 24 years. That same year only ***** divorces were pronounced for a couple married for 35 to 39 years. As seen before, in 2017 the divorce rate for five year-long marriages reached **** per 1,000, compared to * per one thousand marriages for ** year-long marriages. This phenomenon could be explained by the fact that older generations appear to divorce less than younger ones.

Getting divorced in France

Mutual consent represented the majority of divorce proceedings in France in 2017. This procedure allows couples to make an agreement with their lawyer which will point all the effects of the separation. With this new procedure divorced couples do not need to pass before the judge anymore. However, contentious divorces are still common and concerned more than ****** divorces pronounced in France in 2017 which involved one child. Consequently, with a high divorce rate in France, more and more children do have divorced parents now. In 2016, almost * percent of children aged 13 years old in France were living in joint physical custody.

Mean age and median age at divorce and at marriage, for persons who divorced in a given year, by sex or gender and place of occurrence, 1970 to most recent year.

Ages of husband and wife at marriage, and analyses of the percentage of marriages ending in divorce by year of marriage and anniversary, and proportions of men and women who had ever divorced by year of birth and age.

In 2023, the European country with the highest divorce rate per 100 marriages was Finland, with more than 55 divorces. At the bottom of the list was Ireland with only 15.5 divorces per 100 marriages.

China Population: Divorce Rate data was reported at 0.256 % in 2023. This records an increase from the previous number of 0.204 % for 2022. China Population: Divorce Rate data is updated yearly, averaging 0.097 % from Dec 1978 (Median) to 2023, with 46 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 0.336 % in 2019 and a record low of 0.018 % in 1978. China Population: Divorce Rate data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by National Bureau of Statistics. The data is categorized under China Premium Database’s Socio-Demographic – Table CN.GA: Population: No of Marriage and Divorce.

Ratio of the number of marriages during the year to the average population in that year, expressed per 1000 inhabitants.

The total divorce rate in Czechia fluctuated in the observed period. While in 1993, it amounted to 36.2 percent, this figure increased to 50 percent in 2010 before dropping to 40 percent in 2024. Does a lower divorce rate mean a happy marriage? The total divorce rate indicates the proportion of marriages that would have ended in divorce if the divorce rate intensity of a given year had been maintained. This rate has declined since the 2010s, with a single increase in 2017. This coincides with the number of divorces in Czechia, which has decreased since 2010, with only a rise in 2013 and 2017. The decline in divorce numbers has been very prominent recently, as they have reached record-low figures since 2020. However, this does not necessarily mean that people stay happily married. On the contrary, Czechia’s marital status figures indicate that the married population's share has gradually declined since 2010. This development has co-occurred with the growing share of divorced and single people. Rather than get married, people live together as unmarried partners and wait, or they do not intend to get married at all as the traditionalist social pressure to marry at all costs is much lower than decades ago. Marry later, divorce later Czechs tend to get married much later than 30 years ago. Back in 1993, men got married for the first time at an average age of 25.4 years, while women did so at 23.2. Since then, the average age at first marriage has steadily risen for both genders. This also corresponds with the mean duration of marriage at divorce. In 1993, people were married for around 10 years before divorcing, but this figure also increased by more than three years, meaning people stay married for longer before getting a divorce.

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.

Annual divorce numbers and rates, by duration of marriage, sex, to whom granted and reason, that took place in England and Wales.

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.

Albania Vital Statistics: Divorces: per 100 Marriages data was reported at 15.800 % in 2021. This records a decrease from the previous number of 24.400 % for 2020. Albania Vital Statistics: Divorces: per 100 Marriages data is updated yearly, averaging 13.972 % from Dec 1990 (Median) to 2021, with 32 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 26.100 % in 2019 and a record low of 5.900 % in 1997. Albania Vital Statistics: Divorces: per 100 Marriages data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Institute of Statistics. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Albania – Table AL.G003: Vital Statistics.

Abstract

The Marriages and Divorces (MD) dataset is one of three primary sources of of marriage and divorce statistics in South Africa. Unlike the other two sources (population censuses and household sample surveys), the MD dataset is compiled from administrative data and based on continuous recording (i.e. from civil registration systems and administrative records). Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) regularly publishes a series of data on marriages and divorces, with the first dataset in the series begining in 2006. The most recent dataset in the series is MD 2020.

Marriage data: Data on marriages for citizens and permanent residents are obtained from registered marriage records that are collected through the civil registration systems of the Department of Home Affairs (DHA). South Africa recognises three types of marriages by law: civil marriages, customary marriages and civil unions. Before 2008, marriage data only covered civil marriages. The registration of customary marriages and civil unions began in 2003 and 2007 respectively. However from 2008 onwards, Stats SA began publishing available data on customary marriages and civil unions.

Divorce data: Data on divorces are obtained from various regional courts that deal with divorce matters. The data are based on successful divorce cases that have been issued with a decree of divorce by the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development (DoJCD). Divorce cases come from marriages that were registered in different years as well as divorce cases that were filed in different years but whose divorce decrees were granted in the relevant year of collection.

NOTE: although both the data on marriages and divorces are collected in the same year, the data sets are not linked to each other.

Geographic coverage

National coverage

Analysis unit

Individuals

Universe

The data covers all civil marriages that were recoreded by the Department of Home Affairs and all divorce applications that were granted by the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development in 2021 in South Africa.

Kind of data

Administrative records

Mode of data collection

Other

Data appraisal

Geography is problematic in this dataset as not all the data files have geographic data. The Civil Marriages and Civil Unions data files include a Province of Registration variable but the Customary Marriages data file does not. There is also no geographical data in the Divorces file. As this data file includes divorce data from only a subset of divorce courts, this lack of geographical information compromises its usability.

Analysis of the divorce rate by the duration of marriage showed that almost ********* of the divorces in 2023 occurred within the first five years of marriage in Turkey. Additionally, **** percent of the finalized divorces were between couples that had been married from *** to 10 years.

Number of divorces and divorce rate per 1,000 marriages, by duration of marriage and place of occurrence, 1970 to most recent year.