As of 2023, the divorce rate in China decreased to 2.6 divorces per 1,000 inhabitants. Before 2020, this number had been constantly increasing since 2002. Divorce rate in Asian countries The divorce rate in China soared from around 0.96 divorces per 1,000 people in 2000 to 3.36 divorces in 2019. This is a quite high value compared to the divorce rate of countries in the Asia Pacific region. However, China shares the fate of a growing divorce rate with many other developing countries, while in most developed countries, the number of divorces per 1,000 inhabitants is either stable or falling. For example, the divorce rate in Singapore has been manly stable at 1.9 divorces per 1,000 inhabitants in the last ten years and the divorce rate in South Korea has fallen from 2.5 in 2009 to 1.8 in 2023. In comparison, the U.S. divorce rate has been falling since 1992 from 4.8 divorces per 1,000 people to 2.4 divorces in 2022. Dating scene in China For the younger generations, dating and marriage happens (if at all) at a much later life stage compared to their parents. The fact that China has the highest working hours in the region does not ease the dire situation for singles in China, most of them being employed as professionals or employed in the media sector, where long working hours and high work pressure are quite common.

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. The average age men were at when they went through their first divorce was 32, for women this was 30. The average length of a second marriage was about 10 years.

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 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.

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.

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 37.1 percent in 2023. 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. In 1993, the mean age of men at first marriage was 25.4 years, while for women, this figure amounted to 23.2 years. However, the age of first marriage increased over the years, with both genders getting married around seven years later in their lives as of 2022. 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.

Despite public opinion that divorce is becoming more frequent in the United States, the divorce rate actually seems to be declining, with Nevada being the top state for divorce in 2022, with a rate of 4.2 divorces per 1,000 of the population, followed by Oklahoma, Arkansas, Idaho, and Wyoming. Marriage and divorce in Nevada Nevada has one of the highest marriage rates in the country, and Las Vegas is a popular wedding destination. Nevada is one of the few states in the U.S. that allows couples to get a marriage license and get married immediately afterwards. In addition, Nevada is a no-fault divorce state, which means that couples do not need to address the reason behind the divorce. Divorced couples in the U.S. In recent years, the number of divorced individuals over age 50 in the U.S. seems to have surpassed the number of those who were under the age of 30, but whether or not the younger generation remains married longer than generations past remains to be seen. Additionally, far more children of divorced parents lived with a female single parent, rather than a male single parent.

In 2023, 6.5 marriages were registered per 1,000 inhabitants in Russia, compared to 4.7 divorces per 1,000 population. The marriage rate in the country saw an increase compared to the previous year. In 2011, 9.2 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 946,000 marriages were registered in Russia in 2023, while the country’s population was estimated at 146.3 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 684,000 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 60 percent. Both for men and women, the ideal age to get married was considered in a person’s twenties.

According to the latest data, except for 2020, the number of divorces in Mexico has steadily increased over the last two decades, with a total of 166,766 divorces across the country in 2022, up from 149,675 divorces recorded in 2021.

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.

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, the divorce rate in Poland amounted to 1.5 per 1000 people. It is a slight decrease compared to the previous year. The highest divorce rate per 1000 people in Poland was recorded in 2006 at 1.9. Marriages in Poland In 2023, the number of marriages in Poland amounted to 146,000, marking a decrease compared to the previous year. The lowest number of marriages was recorded in 2013 at 180.4 thousand. In 2023, marriage rate per 1,000 inhabitants was measured at 3.9 — thus, an increase compared to 2020. At its highest, this indicator was set in 2008, when it amounted to 6.8. The number of divorces in Poland has been systematically decreasing since 2011, reaching 57,000 cases in 2023. For a broader perspective, the figures have increased by over 59 percent since 1995. The highest number of divorces in the country happened in 2006 (71,900). On the other hand, the number of marriages concluded over the same period has decreased by nearly 19 percent. Government support program for families "500 plus" Family 500+ program is a systemic support for Polish families. From 1 July 2019, all children up to the age of 18 are entitled to the benefit regardless of income received by the family:- the program offers support for every family, also for single-parents.- the funds are paid out regularly, every month until the child completes 18 years of age. In 2018, the government in Poland spent over 22 billion zlotys under the "Family 500+" program, of which the most funds were transferred to families in the Mazowieckie Voivodeship. This program enjoys the support of almost half of the society in Poland. The funds transferred to the families in 2019 were most often spent on clothes and shoes, art articles for school, and additional extracurricular activities. A measurable effect of this assistance was the possibility to develop children's interests by participating in extra activities.

In 2022, the marriage rate in the United States stood at 6.2 per 1,000 people of the population. This is a decrease from 1990 levels, when the marriage rate was 9.8 marriages per 1,000 people. Marriage Marriage is a union that can legally, culturally, and financially bind two people. Marriage occurs between all genders, races, and cultures. Marriage is drastically different all around the world, due to the diversity of cultures and religions. Marriage can be recognized by a state, religious authority, or an organization. Typically viewed as contract, it brings people together through a multitude of avenues. A part of marriage is the wedding, for which couples can decide to partake in or not. Weddings are also incredibly diverse and vary in time, money, and customs. Marriage in the United States Marriage in the United States is viewed differently across all 50 states. The number of married couples in the United States has been steadily increasing since 1960. On the other hand, the divorce rate in the United States has decreased since 1990. Nevada was the state in 2021 that had the highest marriage rate in the United States, due to easy accessibility to get married there. In 2021, Nevada was also the state with the highest divorce rate in the country.

In 2022, there were about 2.78 million people who had obtained a legal divorce and not remarried in Canada. This figure has been steadily increasing since 2000, when there were about 1.88 million divorcees in Canada.

Japan registered 1.47 divorces per 1,000 inhabitants in 2022, marking three consecutive years of decline. The divorce rate shifted back to a downward trend after a slight increase in 2019.

In 2023, the divorce rate in South Korea was 1.8 divorces per 1,000 inhabitants, similar to the previous year. The divorce rate reached its peak in 2003 at about 3.4 divorces per 1,000 people and has been declining since then. Cultural perception of divorce In 2023, a total of approximately 92,400 divorces were recorded in South Korea, demonstrating a consistent decline in divorces over recent years. This decline coincides with a decrease in the overall number of marriages during the same period. Traditionally, divorce was stigmatized in South Korea's patriarchal society. However, as more women enter the workforce and women's rights progress, Korean society has seen a greater acceptance of divorce in recent years. Decline in marriages Over the same period, the number of marriages has also declined across the country. This decline is especially noticeable due to the changing perception of marriage among South Korean women, who are placing less importance on marriage compared to previous generations. A survey conducted in 2023 identified financial constraints and a decreased desire for marriage as the most important reasons for avoiding marriage.

Saudi Arabia saw its highest number of divorce cases in 2020, slightly exceeding the 57,500 cases recorded in 2017. Since 2011, the number of divorces in the Kingdom has risen consistently each subsequent year, with 2019 being the only outlier, dropping by 6,400 cases from the previous year. Traditional views on marriage Saudi Arabia is still a deeply conservative society, where marriages and divorce are heavily influenced by tradition and familial ties. Cases of marriage and divorce continue to be overseen by the state’s Islamic courts. Unlike the number of divorce cases in Saudi Arabia, the number of marriage cases has been trending in the opposite direction. There is also a notable share of women who were married between the ages of 15 and 18 among both Saudi and non-Saudi women in the country. However, as more and more women opt to take on professional careers and pursue higher education, trends are changing. Social reform in the Kingdom Recently, Saudi Arabia has undergone considerable social reforms, which have transformed the role of women in public life. After years of prohibition, women were finally permitted to legally drive as of June 2018. Although the participation of women in the economy has increased in the past years, certain sectors attract more female participation than others. It is safe to say that Saudi Arabia is gradually opening up to the involvement of women in more public affairs. It is therefore expected that the Kingdom may encounter some of the challenges women in other economies have faced for years, such as a discrepancy in average wages between men and women.

In Taiwan, approximately 53,000 couples register for a divorce in 2023, around 2,500 more than in the previous year. The divorce rate in 2023 increased to 2.27 couples per 1,000 population in Taiwan.

In 2023, there were around 463,654 divorces involving Muslim marriages, a decrease in compared to the previous year. 2022 saw a peak in divorces, reaching an all-time high for the past decade. The rise in divorce cases indicated a growing acceptance of the practice. Even so, divorcing in Indonesia can have serious consequences, especially for women. Muslim marriages in Indonesia Indonesia has the world’s largest Muslim population, and they are served by the religious courts with regards to matters concerning marriage and divorce, inheritance, and property. In 2022, almost two million Muslim marriages took place in Indonesia, including informal registrations. Under Syariah law, Muslims are permitted to marry once they reach sexual maturity. This has led to a widespread practice of forced child marriage in Indonesia. In September 2019, the Indonesian parliament passed a bill to raise the minimum age of marriage for women from 16 years to 19 years. Financial burden of divorce Forced marriage was cited as a ground for divorce in 377 cases in 2022. The second-most commonly cited grounds for divorce, however, were financial problems and difficulties. Unfortunately, for many women, the financial difficulties would not end with divorce – in fact, it may just be the beginning. Men are typically the primary breadwinner in Indonesia, leaving many women financially dependent on their husbands. As of 2021, only half of Indonesian women had an account in a financial institution. Meanwhile, custody of the children is usually awarded to the woman after a divorce. This leaves many Indonesian women without financial support, and the additional burden of having children to raise alone. Despite the decreasing stigma of divorce, many women might still choose to stay in a bad marriage to avoid being put in a financially precarious situation.