Divorces per 1,000 married people

Number of divorces since 1950

What it means: the rate is the number of people divorcing in a year for every 1,000 married men and women, for opposite-sex couples; same-sex marriage began in 2014 and has its own, much smaller, figures. The number of divorces peaked at 165,018 in 1993. Typical marriage length is the median: half of the marriages ending that year had lasted longer. No-fault divorce began in England and Wales on 6 April 2022, which also changed how divorces are applied for and granted; the number fell sharply in 2022, the first year under the new law, so the years either side are hard to compare. Shown for context.

Source: ONS, divorces and dissolutions in England and Wales, 2024 and 2025, tables 1, 6 and 8.