Divorces and dissolutions

Divorce and civil partnership dissolution numbers and rates, by partnership type and duration of legal partnership.

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There were 105,961 legal partnership dissolutions in England and Wales in 2025, comprising 105,002 divorces and 959 civil partnership dissolutions. These numbers are similar to 2023 and 2024 but lower than peak levels in the 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s, when there were around 150,000 divorces per year.
The divorce rate for opposite-sex couples was 8.4 per 1,000 opposite-sex married people in 2025. This is similar to the rates in 2023 and 2024 but lower than the peak of 14.2 per 1,000 in 1993. The divorce rate for same-sex marriages in 2025 was 19.5 per 1,000 same-sex married people. This is similar to 2024, with the same-sex divorce rate starting to stabilise following increases between 2015 and 2021.
In 2025, 94.2% of all legal partnership dissolutions were granted under the new legislation that came into effect in 2022. Of cases granted under the new legislation, 74.1% were sole applications and 25.9% were joint applications in 2025.

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Married or civil partnered remained the most common legal partnership status among people aged 18 years and over in England and Wales; however, the percentage decreased slightly from 52.3% in 2015 to 51.1% in 2025, despite people in civil partnerships and same-sex marriages more than quadrupling over the same period to 0.9% and 0.4%, respectively.
Never married or civil partnered was the second most common legal partnership status among people aged 18 years and over in England and Wales, increasing from 32.6% in 2015 to 34.9% in 2025; the largest increases were for those aged between 25 to 34 and 45 to 69 years, where increases were between 4 and 7 percentage points.
People in same-sex marriages accounted for 0.9% (218,204) of all married persons in England and Wales in 2025; this number has grown steadily since the introduction of same-sex marriage in March 2014, with men accounting for 64.5% and women accounting for 35.5% of those in same-sex marriages in 2025.

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Divorces and dissolutions in England and Wales

Divorce and civil partnership dissolution numbers and rates, by partnership type and duration of legal partnership, that took place in England and Wales. 
Divorces in England and Wales

Annual divorce numbers and rates, by duration of marriage, sex, to whom granted and reason, that took place in England and Wales.
Divorces in England and Wales, children of divorced couples: historical data

Number and age of children in families where the parents divorce.
Divorces in England and Wales by age, marital status before marriage and reason: historical data

Number of couples divorcing, divorce numbers and rates by age of husband and wife, and marital status before marriage.
Divorces in England and Wales by age at and duration of marriage and cohort analyses: historical data

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.

Divorces and dissolutions in England and Wales: 2024 and 2025

Divorce and civil partnership dissolution numbers and rates, by partnership type and duration of legal partnership.

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