In 2022, the divorce rate was highest among women aged 20 to 24 years (16.7 divorces per 1,000 women) in Norway. Among men the divorce rate was highest in the age groups 45 to 49 years (14.6 divorces per 1,000 men ).

The divorce rate generally declined in Norway over the past decade. In 2022, there were 8.6 divorces per thousand married and separated males, and 8.9 divorces per thousand married and separated females.

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.

Fewer people get divorced in Norway. The number of divorces generally decreased from 10,224 in 2010 down to 8,789 in 2021. That was the lowest number of divorces in the Scandinavian country during the time under consideration.

In 2021, the number of divorces decreased throughout all countries of the Nordic region. From 2011 to 2021, the total number of divorces decreased in Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Finland, whereas it increased in Iceland..

What is the number of dissolutions of same-sex marriages in Norway? During the time under consideration, the number of divorces between two women were higher than between two men. In 2021, the number of divorced female couples was 70, while the number of divorced male couples peaked at 34 divorces.

The number of divorces between partners of different genders in Denmark decreased slightly since 2014, when it amounted to over 19,000. It was at its lowest in 2019, with just above 10,000 divorces. In 2023, nearly 12,700 divorces between partners of different genders were registered in Denmark. Spouses in Denmark may divorce if either one or both parties do not wish to continue being together. If one does not agree, they can be divorced after a period of six months of separation. Most Danes have never been married; the number of never married inhabitants was around 2.9 million in 2023.

 Divorces between same-sex partners

Since June 2012, partners of the same gender are allowed to marry in Denmark; the same-sex marriage law was enacted that year. In the period from 2013 to 2021, the number of divorces between women was constantly higher than between men. In 2022, 96 divorces between women and 42 between men were registered in Denmark.

Norway and Sweden

In the past years, the number of divorces in Norway decreased overall from 2010 to 2021. The lowest number during the last decade was registered in 2021. By comparison, the number of divorces in Sweden peaked in 2013, reaching almost 27,000. After that, there was a decreasing trend in the country, the number dropping below 22,000 in 2022 and 2023.