Divorce Trends in England and Wales: What the Latest Statistics Reveal

The Office of National Statistics has recently released the latest numbers and trends in relation to the Divorce and Dissolution statistics in England and Wales, from 2023.

The year prior, 2022, saw the reformed divorce regime come into effect, under the Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act 2020. Gone are the days of hiring private investigators to catch those cheating spouses in the act, with the new law not requiring fault to be established or making spouses wait between two and five years to be able to even issue proceedings.

The new regime simply requires confirmation that the marriage or civil partnership has irretrievably broken down. An added benefit of the new law is that an application can be made either on a joint or sole basis, so if your partner seems to be dragging their heels you can proceed to make an application for divorce, in the absence of their agreement and even consent or you can apply together.

The statistics show that in 2023:

• There were 102,678 divorces in England and Wales, which mirrors the number of divorces per year before the outbreak of COVID-19.

• 73.1% of the final orders made under the new regime were sole divorce applications.

• The divorce rates per 1000 married individuals were 8.6 for men and 8.5 for women (including opposite and same sex couples) compared to the record high in 1993 where the rates were 14.3 for men and 14.1 for women.

• The median duration of marriages that ended in divorce was 12.7 years for opposite sex couples and 7.2 and 6.3 years for male and female same sex couples respectively.

The statistics seem to suggest that the law has not made a difference in the number of people applying for divorce, but it is clear that the sole application feature is being used by those initiating proceedings.

At Wilson Browne we understand that the divorce process is daunting and can be especially difficult to navigate in the midst of a relationship breakdown. If you wish to apply for a divorce or want to understand more about the process, feel free to give us a call on 08000886004.