Office of National statistics – Divorce in the UK – 2014

Request

I should be most grateful, if you could please provide the following information in complacence with the aforesaid Act as allowed:

• The number of people divorced in the UK in the last decade?
• The number of people divorced in the recent decade?
• The percentage of divorce in the aforesaid period(s)?
• The ethnicity of the divorcees?
• The cause(s) or the reason(s) disclosed for the divorce?
• The number of marriages that took place in the said period?

Response

The total number of divorces over the last decade, 2003-2012, is 1,298,525.

Year    Number of Divorces
2003    153,065
2004    152,923
2005    141,322
2006    132,140
2007    128,131
2008    121,708
2009    113,949
2010    119,589
2011    117,558
2012    118,140

The number of divorces per year can be found in Table 1 of the reference table ‘Number of Divorces, Age at Divorce and Marital Status Before Marriage’http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/vsob1/divorces-in-england-and-wales/2012/rtd-divorces—number-of-divorces-age-at-divorce-and-marital-status-before-marriage.xls. Please note that this table presents the number of divorces per year rather than the number of people divorcing. This time series goes back to 1858 and most recent data available is 2012. Data on divorces in 2013 is scheduled for publication late 2014/early 2015.

The percentage of divorce in the aforesaid period(s)?

Latest statistics estimate that 42% of marriages in England and Wales end in divorce. An article called ‘What percentage of marriages end in divorce?’ was published on the ONS website in February 2013 http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/vsob1/divorces-in-england-and-wales/2011/sty-what-percentage-of-marriages-end-in-divorce.html.

More detailed information about the percentage of marriages ending in divorce by year of marriage can be found in Table 2 of the reference table ‘Age at Marriage, Duration of Marriage and Cohort Analyses’ http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/vsob1/divorces-in-england-and-wales/2011/rft-divorces–age-at-marriage-and-cohort-analyses.xls.

Year or marriage    Percentage of marriages ending in divorce by 2010
2003                            17
2004                            14
2005                            11
2006                            8
2007                            5
2008                            3
2009                            1
2010                            0
2011                            Data not yet available
2012                            Data not yet available

The ethnicity of divorcees?

ONS divorce statistics are collated from D105 forms used to record decree absolutes by the courts. The courts do not collect information on ethnicity or country of birth or nationality of the divorcing couple so it not possible to provide statistics on ethnicity of divorcees.

The cause(s) or the reason(s) disclosed for the divorce?

Information on the fact proven at divorce can be found in Table 8 of the reference table ‘Number of Divorces, Age at Divorce and Marital Status Before Marriage’http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/vsob1/divorces-in-england-and-wales/2012/rtd-divorces—number-of-divorces-age-at-divorce-and-marital-status-before-marriage.xls.

The number of marriages that took place in the said period?

The total number of marriages over the last decade, 2003-2012, is 2,489,222.

Year    Number of Marriages
2003    270,109
2004    273,069
2005    247,805
2006    239,454
2007    235,367
2008    235,794
2009    232,443
2010    243,808
2011    249,133
2012    262,240 (provisional)

The number of marriages per year can be found in Table 2b of the reference table ‘Marriage Summary Statistics 2012 (Provisional)http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/vsob1/marriages-in-england-and-wales–provisional-/2012/rtd-marriage-summary-statistics-2012–provisional-.xls. This time series goes back to 1858 and most recent data available is 2012. Please note that marriages data for 2012 is provisional. Final 2012 data is scheduled for publication in spring/summer 2015.

Other special extracts and tabulations of divorce and marriage data for England and Wales are available (subject to legal frameworks, disclosure control, resources and agreement of costs, where appropriate). You do not need to make a Freedom of Information request and can contact the team directly at: [email protected]