In 2019 the divorce rate in England and Wales was 8.9 divorces per thousand married couples, which was significantly higher than the rate in 2018 which was 7.5. The Divorce rate in England and Wales has been falling steadily since a rate of 13.3 was recorded in 2003 and 2004. In the last available data for Scotland in 2008, the divorce rate was 11.1.
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Annual divorce numbers and rates, by duration of marriage, sex, to whom granted, and reason.
There were 112,182 divorces in the United Kingdom in 2020, compared with 119,428 in the previous year.
In 2019, the average age for males divorcing in England and Wales was 47.7, while for females it was 45.3. Throughout this period, the average age at which people get divorced has been climbing for males and females.
Official statistics are produced impartially and free from political influence.
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Number and age of children in families where the parents divorce.
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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.
Decree absolute data is provided to NISRA by the Northern Ireland Courts and Tribunals Service (NICTS). Tables on the number of divorces granted each year in Northern Ireland are produced on an annual basis and are available in this section.
In 2023, there were 2,138 divorces granted in Northern Ireland, compared with 2,324 in 2022.
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.
This report presents the latest statistics on type and volume of cases that are received and processed through the family court system of England and Wales in the first quarter of 2022 (January to March).
The material contained within this publication was formerly contained in Court Statistics Quarterly, a publication combining Civil, Family and Criminal court statistics.
New divorce law: Divorce legislation changed on 6 April 2022 that aims to reduce the potential for conflict. This will be reported on in the next issue of Family Court Statistics Quarterly and we would like to hear users’ views. If you have any suggestions regarding the new divorce law that you would like to see included, please contact familycourt.statistics@justice.gov.uk by 15 July 2022.
In addition to Ministry of Justice (MOJ) professional and production staff, pre-release access to the quarterly statistics of up to 24 hours is granted to the following postholders:
Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice; Minister of State; 2 Parliamentary Under Secretary of States; Lords spokesperson; Permanent Secretary; 6 Private Secretaries; 3 Special Advisors;
Head of News; Head of Communications at the Office for Public Guardian; 2 Deputy Head of News; Chief Press Officer; 2 Press Officers;
Director General, Performance, Strategy and Analysis Group; Director General, Policy and Strategy Group; Family Justice Director; Deputy Director, Family Justice policy; Head of Family Justice Reform; Civil, Family, Tribunals data lead, Courts and Tribunals Recovery Unit.
Chief Executive; Chief Financial Officer; Director of Operations; Deputy Director, Family Operations; Operation lead, Divorce; Head of Operational Performance; Head of Family Modernisation and Improvement.
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Presents statistics on marriages solemnised, dissolved and annulled in England and Wales. It also includes information on adoptions.
Source agency: Office for National Statistics
Designation: National Statistics
Language: English
Alternative title: Marriage, Divorce and Adoption Statistics, England and Wales (Series FM2)
In 2022, over 28.9 million people in England and Wales were single, compared with 24 million who were married. In the same year, there were 3.8 million people who were divorced, and 3.13 million people who were widowed.
This report presents the latest statistics on type and volume of cases that are received and processed through the family court system of England and Wales in the third quarter of 2021 (July to September).
The material contained within this publication was formerly contained in Court Statistics Quarterly, a publication combining Civil, Family and Criminal court statistics.
Notice: For this quarter’s publication round only, an additional csv has been published, ‘Public Law DFJ applications and orders’. This provides a breakdown of applications and orders granted for a specific set of public law and adoption related types of order.
Also there has been a revision on how domestic violence cases are counted, moving from counting all cases that involved a domestic violence remedy to counting only cases that fall under the Family Law Act (i.e. stripping out any Children Act/adoption cases already counted elsewhere).
In addition to Ministry of Justice (MOJ) professional and production staff, pre-release access to the quarterly statistics of up to 24 hours is granted to the following postholders:
Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice; Minister of State; 2 Parliamentary Under Secretary of States; Lords spokesperson; Permanent Secretary; Principal Private Secretary; Deputy Principal Private Secretary; 6 Private Secretaries; 7 Deputy Private Secretaries; 14 Assistant Private Secretaries; 3 Special Advisors; President of the Family Division; Head of News; Head of Content and Channels; Head of Communications at the Office for Public Guardian; Deputy Head of News; Senior Digital Content Manager; 2 Chief Press Officers; 2 Press Officers; Chief Finance Officer; Director General, Policy and Strategy Group; Family Justice Director, Director of Data and Analytical Services; Chief Statistician; 15 Policy and Analytical Advisors.
Interim Chief Executive; Head of Court Tribunal Service Centre; National Services Director; Head of Family Modernisation and Improvement; Delivery Director, National Business Services; Deputy Director, Family Operations; Operation lead, Divorce; Head of Operational Performance; Head of Data and MI Delivery; 3 Operational Managers.
This statistic shows the average cost of a divorce in the United Kingdom in 2014, by the expense allocation which can be undertaken by the divorcee. According to the source, legal fees cost on average 1,280 British pounds; this was almost the smallest expense group, valued at 3 British pounds more than the smallest expense, dating. The highest expense resulting from a divorce occurred when buying a new home; this cost on average 94.1 thousand British pounds.
This report presents the latest statistics on type and volume of cases that are received and processed through the family court system of England and Wales in the final quarter of 2020 (October to December), including annual trends
The material contained within this publication was formerly contained in Court Statistics Quarterly, a publication combining Civil, Family and Criminal court statistics.
Notice: Please be aware that we are reviewing what we currently publish for divorce to account for changes to the data available following the reform of the divorce system and due to the feedback gained from the recent FCSQ consultation.
In addition to Ministry of Justice (MOJ) professional and production staff, pre-release access to the quarterly statistics of up to 24 hours is granted to the following postholders:
Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice; 3 Parliamentary Under Secretary of States; Lords spokesperson; Principal Private Secretary; Deputy Principal Private Secretary; Permanent Secretary; 6 Private Secretaries; 7 Deputy Private Secretaries; 13 Assistant Private Secretaries; Special Advisor; President of the Family Division; Head of News; Head of Communications at the Office for Public Guardian; Deputy Head of News; 2 Chief Press Officers; 2 Press Officers; Chief Finance Officer; Director, Policy and Strategy Group; Director of Data and Analytical Services; Chief Statistician; 13 Policy and Analytical Advisors.
Interim Chief Executive; Head of Court Tribunal Service Centre; National Services Director; Head of Family Modernisation and Improvement; Delivery Director, National Business Services; Deputy Director, Family Operations; Operation lead, Divorce; Operation lead, Probate; Head of Operational Performance; Head of Data and MI Delivery; 3 Operational Managers.
As of 2020, Sri Lanka had the lowest divorce rate in the world, with only 0.15 divorces per 1,000 population. Vietnam and Guatemala followed with 0.2 divorces per 1,000 inhabitants. On the other hand, West Bank & the Gaza Strip had the highest marriage rate in the world that year.
This statistic shows the reasons which respondents cited for initiating their divorce proceedings in the United Kingdom (UK) in 2014/2015, by application method. For both online and face-to-face applications, a majority of respondents filed for divorce due to the behavior of the partner, with 53 and 60 percent respectively.
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Annual UK and constituent country figures for births, deaths, marriages, divorces, civil partnerships and civil partnership dissolutions.
Portugal was the European country with the highest divorce rate in 2020, counting almost 92 divorces per 100 marriages. However, in 2023, the divorce-marriage ratio decreased to 47 percent. In 2020, the ratio peaked because of the drop in marriages during the coronavirus (COVID-19) related lockdown. Pandemic years registered the lowest numbers of marriages and divorces since 2010 Until 2019, the annual divorce rate in Portugal had been relatively stable at around two divorces per 1,000 residents. Nevertheless, during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the lowest divorce rate so far was recorded at 1.7, which may be explained by the restrictions imposed by lockdowns and the delays in administrative and bureaucratic services. Still, and due to the same reasons, the number of marriages also suffered a steep decline in 2020 to around 18,900, more than doubling in 2022 and surpassing 2011 figures. First marriages and motherhood occur later in life in Portugal The mean age on first marriage of both men and women in Portugal has been increasing at an almost constant pace for years. 2021 marked an inversion of this tendency, with the mean age of men when marrying for the first time decreasing to 34.3 years of age and the mean age of women decreasing to 32.9 years. However, the rising trend in age was quickly reestablished, as 2022 recorded the highest mean age on first marriage for both sexes. Under the same inclination is the average age of women when giving birth to their first child, which was at 30.9 years in 2021, increasing two years of age in relation to 2010.
In 2019 the divorce rate in England and Wales was 8.9 divorces per thousand married couples, which was significantly higher than the rate in 2018 which was 7.5. The Divorce rate in England and Wales has been falling steadily since a rate of 13.3 was recorded in 2003 and 2004. In the last available data for Scotland in 2008, the divorce rate was 11.1.