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.

As of 2025, Sri Lanka had the lowest divorce rate in the world, with 0.15 divorces per 1,000 population. Vietnam and Guatemala followed with 0.2 divorces per 1,000 inhabitants.

In 2023, Latvia, Cyprus, and Lithuania had the highest divorce rates among countries in the European Union, at *** divorces per 1,000 population. By contrast, Ireland had the lowest divorce rate at *** divorces per 1,000 population.

As of 2024, the divorce rate in China decreased to *** 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 **** divorces per 1,000 people in 2000 to **** 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 *** divorces per 1,000 inhabitants in the last ten years and the divorce rate in South Korea has fallen from *** in 2009 to *** in 2024. In comparison, the U.S. divorce rate has been falling since 1992 from *** divorces per 1,000 people to *** 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 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.

In 2022, the divorce rate in the United States stood at *** 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 ***** years, while the average length of a second marriage was about ** years.

PART I: Distribution table: Interval Frequency Cumulative Frequency Percentage distribution Cumulative percentage distribution 10-12 2 2 13.33 13.33 12.1-14 5 7 33.33 46.66 14.1-16 8 15 53.33 99.99 16.1-18 0 15 0 99.99

18.1 0 15 0 99.99

Majority of the countries, eight, fall in the 14.1-16 category. Five countries fall in the 12.1-14 category and two countries in the 10-12 bin. The remaining categories have zero entries. This means the data does not follow a normal distribution since most of the countries are concentrated at the highest peak. This data could be better visualized in a histogram.

Frequency distribution with revised interval: Interval Frequency Cumulative Frequency Percentage Frequency Cumulative percentage <12 2 2 13.33 13.33 12-12.9 1 3 6.67 20 13-13.9 4 7 26.67 46.67 14-14.9 4 11 26.67 73.34 15-15.9 3 14 20 93.34 16-16.9 1 15 6.67 100.01 17-17.9 0 15 0 100.01

18 0 15 0 100.01 Eight countries have between 14% and 18% of their population above age 65. The number of countries with 14% - 18% of their population above 65 years remain the same even after revising the interval. The percentage of countries that have between 14-18 percent of their population above age 65 is 53.33%.

PART II Q1. Time series chart for divorce rate in Netherlands

Q2. Describe divorce rate in Netherlands before and after 1970. There is a decline in divorce rate between 1950 and 1960. There is a moderate rise in divorce rate between 1960 and 1970, the rate steadily rises between 1970 and 1980 and thereafter exhibits a slight decline between 1980 and 1990. The rate shifts to a declining trend after the year 2000. The decline does not indicate negative number of divorces, this could be attributed to increased population size and fewer number of divorce cases filed. Q3. A bar graph would best display the divorce rate for each year, hence easy comparison. Q4. Bar graph The highest number of divorce cases were recorded in the year 2000, while the least number was observed in 1960.

Set 2: Show how different elements contributed to population change in 2018

Immigration contributed 34 percent of the change in population; births, Emigration, and deaths contributed almost equal change in population.

Q2. Elements of population growth

Immigration contributed the largest change in population growth compared to birth.

Q3. A time series to show changes in male and female population

Both populations show an increasing trend over the 4 years. We could also conclude there are more females than males in the country’s population.

The decision of ending a marriage is not always easy, but almost 82 percent of Italians believed that sometimes it was necessary. When asked about the reason for getting separated or divorced, the majority of Italians indicated betrayal or infidelity causing their decision. The second most common motive, pointed by about 17.5 percent of the interviewees, was the fact that the love between the two spouses was over.

Divorces in Italy on the rise

The number of Italian couples deciding to end their marriage has increased over the last years. In 2017, the country registered roughly 15.1 divorces per every 10,000 inhabitants, about six divorces more than in 2010. The region where most spouses decided to split up was Liguria, with 21 divorces per 10,000 individuals.

The Portuguese and Luxembourgish divorce the most

With 48.7 divorces for every 100 marriages, Italy ranked right behind the European top ten countries with the highest divorce rates in 2016. The ranking was led by Portugal and Luxembourg, which in the year considered registered about 69 and 66 divorces for every 100 marriages, respectively.

In 2020, the number of divorces in France was 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 at 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 has been decreasing since 2004 and reached 220,000 in 2021, compared to 236,826 ten years before. Same-sex marriage was legalized in France in 2013, but civil partnerships are the type of unions that have 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 2023, *** marriages were registered per 1,000 inhabitants in Russia, compared to *** divorces per 1,000 population. The marriage rate in the country saw an increase compared to the previous year. In 2011, *** 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 ******* marriages were registered in Russia in 2023, while the country’s population was estimated at ***** 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 ******* 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 ** percent. Both for men and women, the ideal age to get married was considered in a person’s twenties.

Niger has the highest child marriage rate in the world among girls. According to the most recent data, in this West African country, more than three-fourths of girls aged under 18 were married, with nearly 30 percent of them being younger than 15 years old. The Central African Republic, Chad, and Mali followed behind with rates ranging from 61 to 54 percent. This issue is globally spread, particularly in African countries. In many of these countries, the legal age to get married is lower for females than for males. In Niger and Chad, for instance, the legal age is 15 years for females and 18 for males. In Guinea, instead, the legal age for marriage is 17 for females and 18 for males. Child marriage is often related to poverty, with poor families choosing to marry away their girls, both to earn money as a wedding gift and as this means fewer mouths to feed.

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 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. Fewer marriages, more divorces If the share of married individuals in France is decreasing, the proportion of single and married French people continues to rise. 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 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 Marriage is no longer the most common union between two individuals. Civil partnerships, which have been implemented in France since 1999, are getting quite popular. In 2017, more than 193,000 civil unions were 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 remains rather low in France.

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.

2021 saw the highest level of divorce cases registered in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) since 2009. Since 2009, divorce figures in the country primarily hovered around *************, peaking at around ***** and ***** in 2014 and 2015, respectively. 2012 saw the lowest number of divorces, with approximately ***** cases. Marriage in the UAE has a pragmatic legal system governing issues such as divorce. Due to its high expat non-Muslim population, it has adapted its judicial system to better serve its diverse communities. Previously, both Muslim and non-Muslim residents were subject to the country’s Islamic courts in matters pertaining to divorce. This changed with the new federal Civil Personal Status Law, which came into effect in *************. The recent rise in divorce cases is in line with the overall trend of divorce cases in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). This trend is understandable, as the number of marriage contracts in the UAE has also increased significantly in the past few years. Social change in the region Social dynamics in the region are seeing visible changes. Recently, countries in the GCC have gradually loosened restrictions traditionally placed on women. The UAE was already at the forefront of this transition, with women playing an active role in both the public and private sectors. More recently, countries like Saudi Arabia have seen a notable increase in the participation of women in the economy. This, however, presents new challenges, such as a discrepancy in average wages between men and women which, as in many other developed economies, remains a lingering issue.

The global destination wedding market was expected to roughly quadruple from 2022 to 2023. While the market size amounted to roughly 26.8 billion U.S. dollars in 2022, this figure was expected to surpass 30 billion U.S. dollars in 2023 and then reach nearly 103.5 billion U.S. dollars in 2033.

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.

Since the mid-2000s, the average age at first wedding in France has increased gradually, for both men and women. It seems to be common for the first marriage to be celebrated later and later in Western countries. For example, the median age at first marriage in the United States went from **** years old for males and ** years old for females in 1998, up to **** years old for males and **** for females in 2022. The same thing occurred in Europe, where Spain was the country where the median age at first wedding was the oldest in 2022. French people wait longer to marry According to the source, in 2004, the average age at first wedding for French men was **** compared to **** for women. If men still tend to be older than women at first marriage, the average age at marriage for both males and females increased from 2004 to 2024. In 2024, men were on average **** at their first wedding, compared to **** for women. Most marriages in France happened between men and women, despite the implementation of same-sex marriage in 2013. The mean age at gay marriages appears to be even older than in different-sex weddings. Marriage and divorce in France Thus, the percentage of married persons in France has decreased since 2006, while the share of single and divorced people rose. However, in 2016, France was the second European country with the highest number of marriages behind Germany. On the other hand, like most other Western nations, France also has a high divorce rate. In 2016, the number of French divorces was ** per 100 marriages.

This statistic depicts global views on premarital sex in 2013. In Indonesia, 97 percent of residents believe that premarital sex among adults is morally unacceptable. Sex before marriage Nine out of ten people in Indonesia, Jordan, Pakistan, and Turkey believed that engaging in sex before marriage was not acceptable. The majority of the Europeans found premarital sex to be morally acceptable or not a moral issue at all. Indonesia has the largest Muslim population in the world totaling over 209 million people. In some religions, like Catholicism and Islam, having sex before marriage is considered morally unacceptable. Other predominantly religious countries such as Jordan and Pakistan also have similar rates of this belief.In the United States, 29 percent of people consider the act of having sex before marriage as morally wrong while 20 percent believe that getting a divorce is also morally unacceptable . Abstinence-only sex education is not uncommon in the United States where states can apply for federal funding for these programs. Abstinence-only programs try to prevent teens or all unmarried individuals from having any sexual activity. Critics state that these programs often include negative messages about sexuality, gender roles, and may also try to minimize the effectiveness of birth control. Some 13 percent of teenage students desire more information about contraceptive use . Education about contraception and safe sex can help prevent unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections.

In 2022, there were about 4.15 million Black families in the United States with a single mother. This is an increase from 1990 levels, when there were about 3.4 million Black families with a single mother.

Single parenthood

The typical family is comprised of two parents and at least one child. However, that is not the case in every single situation. A single parent is someone who has a child but no spouse or partner. Single parenthood occurs for different reasons, including divorce, death, abandonment, or single-person adoption. Historically, single parenthood was common due to mortality rates due to war, diseases, and maternal mortality. However, divorce was not as common back then, depending on the culture.

Single parent wellbeing

In countries where social welfare programs are not strong, single parents tend to suffer more financially, emotionally, and mentally. In the United States, most single parents are mothers. The struggles that single parents face are greater than those in two parent households. The number of families with a single mother in the United States has increased since 1990, but the poverty rate of black families with a single mother has significantly decreased since that same year. In comparison, the poverty rate of Asian families with a single mother, and the percentage of white, non-Hispanic families with a single mother who live below the poverty level in the United States have both been fluctuating since 2002.