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.

There were approximately ******* marriages taking place in Germany in 2023, the most in the European Union in that year. France had the second-highest number of marriages, at *******, followed by Italy at ******* marriages.

Data on marriages and divorces at national level are transmitted by the National Statistics Institutes on voluntary basis in the context of the annual demographic data collections in the field of demography carried out by Eurostat.

The POPSTAT (population statistics) questionnaire collects annual mandatory and voluntary demographic data from the National Statistical Institutes. It is the most in-depth annual national and regional demographic and migration data collection. The data relate to populations, births, deaths, immigrants, emigrants, marriages and divorces, and is broken down into several categories (Article 3 of Regulation (EU) No 1260/2013 and Article 3 of Regulation (EC) No 862/2007).

The completeness of the demographic data collected on a voluntary basis depends on the availability and completeness of information provided by the National Statistical Institutes.

The following statistics on marriages and divorces are collected from the National Statistical Institutes:

• Marriages by previous legal union status of marrying persons;
• First-time marrying persons by age, year of birth and sex;
• Marriages by country of citizenship of marrying persons;
• Marriages by country of birth of marrying persons;
• Divorces by duration and year of the marriage;
• Divorces by country of citizenship of spouses;
• Divorces by country of birth of spouses.

Statistics on marriages and divorces: based on the different breakdowns of data on marriages and divorces received, Eurostat produces the following:

• Statistics available in the online table Marriage indicators (demo_nind):
  • Total number of marriages;
  • Crude marriage rate;
  • Mean age at first marriage – male;
  • Mean age at first marriage – female;
  • Total first marriage rate – male;
  • Total first marriage rate – female;
  • Proportion of first marriages – male;
  • Proportion of first marriages – female.
• Statistics available in the online table Divorce indicators (demo_ndivind):
  • Total number of divorces;
  • Crude divorce rate;
  • Divorces per 100 marriages.

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.

Data on marriages and divorces at national level are transmitted by the National Statistics Institutes on voluntary basis in the context of the annual demographic data collections in the field of demography carried out by Eurostat.

The POPSTAT (population statistics) questionnaire collects annual mandatory and voluntary demographic data from the National Statistical Institutes. It is the most in-depth annual national and regional demographic and migration data collection. The data relate to populations, births, deaths, immigrants, emigrants, marriages and divorces, and is broken down into several categories (Article 3 of Regulation (EU) No 1260/2013 and Article 3 of Regulation (EC) No 862/2007).

The completeness of the demographic data collected on a voluntary basis depends on the availability and completeness of information provided by the National Statistical Institutes.

The following statistics on marriages and divorces are collected from the National Statistical Institutes:

• Marriages by previous legal union status of marrying persons;
• First-time marrying persons by age, year of birth and sex;
• Marriages by country of citizenship of marrying persons;
• Marriages by country of birth of marrying persons;
• Divorces by duration and year of the marriage;
• Divorces by country of citizenship of spouses;
• Divorces by country of birth of spouses.

Statistics on marriages and divorces: based on the different breakdowns of data on marriages and divorces received, Eurostat produces the following:

• Statistics available in the online table Marriage indicators (demo_nind):
  • Total number of marriages;
  • Crude marriage rate;
  • Mean age at first marriage – male;
  • Mean age at first marriage – female;
  • Total first marriage rate – male;
  • Total first marriage rate – female;
  • Proportion of first marriages – male;
  • Proportion of first marriages – female.
• Statistics available in the online table Divorce indicators (demo_ndivind):
  • Total number of divorces;
  • Crude divorce rate;
  • Divorces per 100 marriages.

Dataset replaced by: http://data.europa.eu/euodp/data/dataset/kYUpewWd81KHgTddinyQ The crude marriage rate is the ratio of the number of marriages during the year to the average population in that year. The value is expressed per 1000 persons.

Mean age of men and women when they get married for the first time.

Over the period observed, the marriage rate decreased from five per 1,000 inhabitants in 2004 to 3.9 per 1,000 inhabitants in 2023.

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

🇪🇺 European Union

This graph displays the mean age of women at first marriage in European countries in 2014. In this year the oldest mean age at first marriage for females emerged from Sweden at **** years. This was followed by Spain and Denmark, at **** and **** years respectively.

This statistic shows the European Union countries with the highest share of births out of wedlock from 2009 to 2011. In 2009, the share of births out of marriage in Great Britain amounted to 46.3 percent.

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.

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

Dataset to accompany the paper "Marital fertility patterns and nonmarital birth ratios: an integrated approach"

Includes:

US African American women and White American women data on age-specific fertility (5-year groups), age specific marital fertility (5-year groups), proportion of women with a first marriage (5-year groups), and the ratio of births within marriage (5-year groups) as well as calculated values from the paper. For ages 15-44 and years 1980, 1985, 1990, 1995, 2000.

Selected European country women data on age-specific fertility (5-year groups), age specific marital fertility (5-year groups), proportion of women with a first marriage (5-year groups), and the ratio of births within marriage (5-year groups) as well as calculated values from the paper. For ages 15-44 and years 1991, 2001, and 2011 (data not available for all countries in all years).

Japanese women data on age-specific fertility (5-year groups), age specific marital fertility (5-year groups), proportion of women with a first marriage (5-year groups), and the ratio of births within marriage (5-year groups) as well as calculated values from the paper. For ages 15-44 and years 1950, 1960, 1970, 1980, 1990, 1995, 2000, 2005, and 2010.

This table includes the most important key figures on marriage dissolutions due to death and divorce among the registered population of the Netherlands. Excluding dissolutions due to ending registered partnerships.

Data available from: 1950

Status of the figures: All data recorded in this table are final data.

Changes per 1 July 2025: Data of 2024 have been added.

When will new figures be published? In the third quarter of 2026 final figures of 2025 will be added in this publication.

First marriage rates by age and sex

This table provides annual data since 1996 on the gross marriage rates of residents in the Canary Islands. The information is disaggregated territorially at the level of Canary Islands.

In 2022, there were 68,900 heterosexual marriages and 1,700 same-sex marriages. By comparison, in 2021 there were 55,200 heterosexual marriages, and 1,200 same-sex marriages. The number of same-sex marriages stayed relatively consistent from 2009 to 2022, with the fewest in 2020 and the most in 2001. The number of heterosexual marriages also remained stable between 2009 and 2019, with the highest in 2002 and the fewest in 2019 as a consequence of the coronavirus (COVID-19) oandemic.

Why were there fewer marriages in 2020?

There was a sudden drop in the number of marriages in the Netherlands in 2020, both for heterosexual and same-sex marriages. The primary reason for the fall in marriages was the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, making it difficult to host a wedding safely and within the restrictions, resulting in many weddings being postponed and canceled. While there were fewer weddings, the number of registered partnerships stayed relatively the same, possibly because they are less likely to host large gatherings of people than a traditional wedding.

How did the Netherlands compare to the rest of Europe?

The Netherlands was not the only country to experience a significant drop in marriages in Europe. Other European countries such as Italy, Norway, and France saw considerable declines in the number of weddings in 2020 due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and each government’s restrictions.