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.

Number of persons who divorced in a given year and age-specific divorce rates per 1,000 legally married persons, by sex or gender and place of occurrence, 1970 to most recent year.

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

The data has 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.

Annual divorce numbers and rates, by duration of marriage, sex, to whom granted, and reason.

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.

Divorces, by age group of husband and age group of wife at marriage, 2004 to 2005.

Vital Statistics: Japanese Only: Per 1000: Divorce Rate data was reported at 1.700 % in 2017. This records a decrease from the previous number of 1.730 % for 2016. Vital Statistics: Japanese Only: Per 1000: Divorce Rate data is updated yearly, averaging 1.280 % from Dec 1947 (Median) to 2017, with 71 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 2.300 % in 2002 and a record low of 0.730 % in 1963. Vital Statistics: Japanese Only: Per 1000: Divorce Rate data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Japan – Table JP.G005: Vital Statistics.

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

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 24 July 2024: Data of 2023 have been added.

When will new figures be published? In the last quarter of 2025 final figures of 2024 will be added in this publication.

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.

Number and percentage of divorces, by type of spouse (husband, wife), marital status (single-never married, widowed, divorced) of husband and wife just prior to marriage, and place of occurrence, 2004 to 2005.

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.

Divorce Cases by Nationality, Age Groups & Duration of Marriage of Divorced Wife

This dataset includes statistics on the number of marriages and crude marriage rates, the number of divorces and the rates of raw divorce in several years from 2006 to 2015.

Analysis of ‘Divorces between different-sex spouses according to the spouse who makes the application. ENSD (API identifier: 21546)’ provided by Analyst-2 (analyst-2.ai), based on source dataset retrieved from http://data.europa.eu/88u/dataset/urn-ine-es-tabla-t3-106-21546 on 19 January 2022.

--- Dataset description provided by original source is as follows ---

Table of INEBase Divorces between different-sex spouses according to the spouse who makes the application. Annual. Autonomous Communities and Cities. Annulments, Separations and Divorces

--- Original source retains full ownership of the source dataset ---

Analysis of ‘Divorces according to whether there was a previous separation or not. ENSD (API identifier: 21553)’ provided by Analyst-2 (analyst-2.ai), based on source dataset retrieved from http://data.europa.eu/88u/dataset/urn-ine-es-tabla-t3-106-21553 on 08 January 2022.

--- Dataset description provided by original source is as follows ---

Table of INEBase Divorces according to whether there was a previous separation or not. Annual. Provinces. Annulments, Separations and Divorces

--- Original source retains full ownership of the source dataset ---

Source: SINGAPORE DEPARTMENT OF STATISTICS

Data Last Updated: 15/07/2024

Update Frequency: Annual

Footnotes: Data include annulments.

Adapted from: https://tablebuilder.singstat.gov.sg/table/TS/M830202

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.

This data set shows the number of employed persons by marital status for all states in Malaysia from year 1982 until 2021. The statistics is derived from Labour Force Survey (LFS) which is conducted every month using household approach. Employed persons are those between the working age of 15-64 years old who at any time during the reference week of LFS had worked at least one hour for pay, profit or family gain (as an employer, employee, own-account worker or unpaid family worker). Marital status is categorised as follows: a. Never married Refers to those who have never been married at the time of interview. b. Married Refers to persons who are currently married at the time of interview. The term, ‘married’ includes those married by law or by religious rites or are living together by mutual agreement. c. Widowed Refers to those who have not remarried after the death of the spouses at the time of interview. d. Divorced/permanently separated Refers to those whose marriages were annulled through divorce by law or religious arrangement or separated for a long duration without any possibility of reconciliation. W.P. Labuan is gazzeted as a Federal Territory in 1984 while W.P. Putrajaya is gazzeted as a Federal Territory in 2001. The statistics for W.P. Putrajaya for 2001-2010 is treated as part of Selangor. Statistics for W.P. Putrajaya is available separately since 2011 onwards. LFS was not conducted during the years 1991 and 1994. Footnote: Total includes unknown marital status. Source: Department of Statistics Malaysia

The North Carolina State Center for Health Services (SCHS) collects yearly vital statistics. The Odum Institute holds vital statistics beginning in 1968 for births, fetal deaths, deaths, birth/infant deaths, marriages and divorce. Public marriage and divorce data are available through 1999 only.

North Carolina law defines marriage as the legal union of a male and a female (G.S. 51-1). Legal divorce or annulment can occur only by decree of an authorized court. Annulments, which void marr iage from the beginning, constitute less than one percent of the sum of these events. A divorce from bed and board is a judicial separation suspending cohabitation but not otherwise affecting the marriage bond. Divorces from bed and board are not included in these files. This study focuses on North Carolina divorces for 1990. Data includes information on the age and race of the plaintiff; information on the number of minor children; grounds for divorce; as well as the place, state, and date of the marriage.

The data is strictly numerical, there is no identifying information given about the individuals.