List of countries by marriage and divorce rates
This is a list of countries by marriage and divorce rates, where divorce demography is the study of divorce statistics in a population.
Metrics
There are three ratios used for divorce rate calculations: crude divorce rate, refined divorce rate, and divorce-to-marriage ratio. Each of these calculations has weaknesses and can be misleading.[1]
Crude divorce rate
This is divorces per 1,000 population per year.[1] For example, if a city has 10,000 people living in it, and 30 couples divorce in one year, then the crude divorce rate for that year is 3 divorces per 1,000 residents.The crude divorce rate can give a general overview of marriage in an area, but it does not take people who cannot marry into account. For example, it would include young children, who are clearly not of marriageable age in its sample. In a place with large numbers of children or single adults, the crude divorce rate can seem low. In a place with few children and single adults, the crude divorce rate can seem high.
Refined divorce rate
This measures the number of divorces per 1,000 women married to men, so that all unmarried persons are left out of the calculation.[1] For example, if that same city of 10,000 people has 3,000 married women, and 30 couples divorce in one year, then the refined divorce rate is 10 divorces per 1,000 married women.
Divorce-to-marriage ratio
This compares the number of divorces in a given year to the number of marriages in that same year (the ratio of the crude divorce rate to the crude marriage rate).[1] For example, if there are 500 divorces and 1,000 marriages in a given year in a given area, the ratio would be one divorce for every two marriages, e.g. a ratio of 0.50 (50%).However, this measurement compares two unlike populations – those who can marry and those who can divorce. Say there exists a community with 100,000 married couples, and very few people capable of marriage, for reasons such as age. If 1,000 people obtain divorces and 1,000 people get married in the same year, the ratio is one divorce for every marriage, which may lead people to think that the community's relationships are extremely unstable, despite the number of married people not changing. This is also true in reverse: a community with very many people of marriageable age may have 10,000 marriages and 1,000 divorces, leading people to believe that it has very stable relationships.
Furthermore, these two rates are not directly comparable since the marriage rate only examines the current year, while the divorce rate examines the outcomes of marriages for many previous years. This does not equate to the proportion of marriages in a given single-year cohort that will ultimately end in divorce. In any given year, underlying rates may change, and this can affect the ratio. For example, during an economic downturn, some couples might postpone a divorce because they can't afford to live separately. These individual choices could seem to temporarily improve the divorce-to-marriage ratio.
Statistics
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Worldwide
| 1970 | 1980 | 1990 | 2000 | 2010 | 2020 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 69.4% | 68.5% | 67.6% | 67.5% | 66% | 64.7% | 63.8% |
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 England, J. Lynn; Kunz, Phillip R. (February 1975), "The Application of Age-Specific Rates to Divorce", Journal of Marriage and the Family, 37 (1), Journal of Marriage and Family, Vol. 37, No. 1: 40–46, doi:10.2307/351029, JSTOR 351029
- ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14 2.15 2.16 2.17 2.18 "Marriage and divorce statistics". Eurostat.
- ↑ "Office National des statistiques - Démographie Algérienne 2014" (PDF). Office National des Statistiques (ONS) 2013.
- ↑ 4.00 4.01 4.02 4.03 4.04 4.05 4.06 4.07 4.08 4.09 4.10 4.11 4.12 4.13 4.14 4.15 4.16 4.17 4.18 4.19 4.20 4.21 4.22 4.23 4.24 4.25 4.26 4.27 4.28 4.29 4.30 4.31 4.32 4.33 4.34 4.35 4.36 4.37 4.38 4.39 4.40 4.41 4.42 4.43 4.44 4.45 4.46 4.47 4.48 4.49 4.50 4.51 4.52 4.53 4.54 4.55 4.56 4.57 4.58 "Divorce Rates by Country". worldpopulationreview.com. Retrieved 10 July 2026.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 "Marriages and crude marriage rates" (PDF). United Nations Statistical Division (UNSTAT). Retrieved 10 January 2013.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6 "Divorces and crude divorce rates" (PDF). United Nations Statistical Division (UNSTAT). Retrieved 10 January 2013.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 BRICS Joint Statistical Publication 2012, Chapter 3: Population (PDF). 2012. p. 18. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-02-28. Retrieved 2013-01-20.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 "Marriages and Divorces". ourworldindata.org. Retrieved 11 January 2026.
- ↑ China's tally of marriage registrations down in 2024. The State Council Information Office. 2025.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 10.6 10.7 10.8 "World Marriage Data 2008". United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2009). Retrieved 19 January 2013.
- ↑ "Marriage Rates by Country". World Population Review. Retrieved 12 September 2026.
- ↑ "Divorce Rates in India 2025: State-Wise Insights". India Data Map. 14 September 2025. Retrieved 12 September 2026.
- ↑ "Divorce Rates by Country 2024". World Population Review. Archived from the original on 5 February 2024. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
- ↑ Marriage and divorce statistics. Eurostat. 2026.
- ↑ UNESCWA Population Statistics
- ↑ Обновлено БРАКИ. Федеральная служба государственной статистики (Federal State Statistics Service). 2020. Archived from the original on 2022-03-31. Retrieved 2021-08-24.
- ↑ Обновлено - 09.07.2021: РАЗВОДЫ. Федеральная служба государственной статистики (Federal State Statistics Service). 2020. Archived from the original on 2022-04-01. Retrieved 2021-08-24.
- ↑ Marriage and Divorce Statistics 2020 (PDF). General Authority for Statistics - Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. 2020.
- ↑ Marriage Rates Climb in South Korea for Third Year. Business Korea. 2026.
- ↑ Marriage and divorce statistics. Eurostat. 2026.
- ↑ "An average of 149 couples file for divorce per day in Taiwan in 2018: Data | Taiwan News". 23 June 2019.
- ↑ United Nations Statistical Division (UNSTAT) 2010
- ↑ "Data Bank". Ukrstat. Retrieved 11 January 2026.
- ↑ "Data Bank". Ukrstat. Retrieved 11 January 2026.
- ↑ UNESCWA Population Statistics
- ↑ "Share of women aged 15–49 who are married or in a union". ourworldindata.org. Retrieved 11 January 2026.