In 2020, the number of divorces in France was of 57,437. France had a divorce rate of 55 per 100 marriages in 2020. A number which was not one of the highest in Europe but that emphasizes the fact that in recent years, divorce is a phenomenon with a significant impact on Western countries.

The characteristics of French divorces

Despite a record number of 152,020 separations in 2005, the number of divorces in France remained stable since the mid-2000s and has also been declining by a rate of 8 percent between 2004 and 2014. Since then, the number of divorces remained almost the same in the country, even though an decrease has been seen between 2016 and 2017. In 2019, the majority of divorces in France were pronounced by mutual consent. Most of divorces pronounced in France concerned marriages which lasted between 4 years and 7 years.

Unions in France

The number of marriages in France is decreasing since 2004 and reached 220,000 in 2021, compared to 236,826 ten years before. Same-sex marriage was legalized in France since 2013, but civil partnerships are the type of unions that increased in recent years. More than 205,000 civil partnerships were contracted in 2010 in France. Implemented in 1999, civil unions in France are established between two individuals regardless of gender.

In 2017, the highest divorce rate concerned five year-long marriages with 25.2 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 55 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 2,771 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 25.2 per 1,000, compared to 8 per one thousand marriages for 25 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 14,400 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 4 percent of children aged 13 years old in France were living in joint physical custody.

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 percentage of married persons in France reached 42.5 percent in 2018. Ten years earlier the share of the married population in the country was of 47.8 percent. Since the mid-2000s the proportion of married couples in France has been declining. In 2018, the number of marriages in the country reached 235,000, compared to more than 278,000 in 2004. Marriage does not appear to be the preferred mode of union of French citizens, while the divorce rate remains high.

Less marriages, more divorces

If the share of married individuals in France is decreasing, the proportion of single and married French keeps rising. In 2018, almost nine percent of the French population was divorced, a proportion which was two percentage points lower in 2006. Divorce rates amounted to 55 per every 100 marriages in 2016, making France one of the European countries with the highest divorce rate. In the meantime, the share of single people is also gradually rising.

New relationships

It seems that marriage is not the most common union between two individuals anymore. Civil partnerships, which have been implemented in France since 1999, are getting quite popular. In 2017, more than 193,000 civil unions have been celebrated in the country, regardless of the genders of the two partners. Despite the legalization of gay marriage in 2013, the number of same-sex marriages keeps being rather low in France.

This statistic shows the number of divorces per 100 marriages in France from 2007 to 2016. It displays that in 2011 was the year with the highest number of divorces with 56.1 divorces per 100 marriages.

This statistic depicts the distribution of children of divorce in France in 2012, by custody and by type of divorce. It appears that more than 60 percent of children involved in mutual consent divorce proceedings lived with their mother.

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.

In 2011, the average number of children in French families was 1.9 children. This number was a little bit higher in blended families which accounted for 2.3 children on average. With a higher divorce rate and a decreasing birth rate, families in France are experiencing changes in recent years.

More and more blended families in France

The most common family type in France in 2015 was a couple with children. In 2016, France was still the country with the highest fertility rate in Europe. That year, France had a mean of over 1.92 children being born alive to a woman during her lifetime. French citizens have more children than their European neighbors which does not necessarily mean that France is not impacted by the decline of births. However, with the rising number of divorces in the country, more children are now living in a new type of family. Stepfamilies are becoming more common and in a survey from 2015, 55 percent of responding French declared that they were in favor of creating a stepparent status for stepfamilies.

The evolution of family structure

Family structure is evolving in France and in Europe. Getting married and then having children in that order are not the most common life path anymore. In 2018, there were more than 60 percent of children born out of wedlock in France. Also, the country saw an increasing number of single parent families. The democratization of parental leave, as well as LGBT parenting, are reshaping the structure and the views public opinion could have about what being a family is.

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 2008, the number of divorces decreased in Belgium. In fact, the country registered 35,000 divorces in 2008 compared to 19,300 in 2022. Meanwhile, the number of marriages was mostly stable. In Belgium, there were 45,613 marriages in 2008 compared to 40,836 marriages in 2021. In comparison, neighboring France registered 220,000 marriages and 62,300 divorces. Although a divorce rate would be ideal to fathom divorce numbers in Belgium, available data shows that the average duration of marriage in the country was 15 years in 2020.

Divorce for inconsolable differences

Since 2007, Belgium law defines two ways of divorcing: by mutual consent or on the grounds of inconsolable differences. Divorce on the grounds of a fault has been abolished, it is now unnecessary to prove that a spouse has faulted to obtain a divorce. However, if one of the spouses does not want to divorce, the other spouse will have to prove the existence of these inconsolable differences. For instance, adultery, violence, or effective separation for over a year. In this form of divorce, the other spouse’s consent is, therefore, not mandatory.

Consensual divorce

If both spouses wish to pursue a divorce in Belgium, they must file a request in court. In court, they will have to prove an effective separation longer than 6 months. When spouses agree to divorce but not on the procedure, the court will settle on the modalities of the divorce. The modalities often refer to pension, child custody, and distribution of property. However, when both spouses also agree on the divorce’s modalities, they must consult a lawyer to address how the dividing is being settled. In this scenario, spouses do not need to go to court.

Qatar had the lowest marriage rate in the world as of 2018, with 1.4 marriages per every 1,000 population. French Guiana followed with one marriage more than Qatar (2.4). Thereafter, Peru and Venezuela counted 2.5 and 2.6 marriages per 1,000 inhabitants, ranking third and fourth, respectively. By contrast, West Bank and Gaza, Fiji, and Egypt had the highest marriage rates worldwide in that same year.

West Bank and Gaza had the highest marriage rate in the world as of 2018, with 10 marriages per every 1,000 population. Fiji followed directly with 9.8 marriages. Thereafter, Egypt and Bahamas counted 9.6 and 9.5 marriages per 1,000 inhabitants, ranking third and fourth, respectively. By contrast, Qatar, French Guiana, and Peru had the lowest marriage rates worldwide in that same year.