Partner
Beecham Peacock
With high profile celebrity splits and the visibility of social media, it may seem that divorces are more prevalent than ever.
However, in the UK the exact opposite is true – divorce rates have been falling heavily over the last decade.
According to data from the Office of National Statistics, divorce rates in the UK are at their lowest levels since the early 1970s.
Using the above data, we can draw the following conclusions:
- 1990-99 was the ‘worst’ decade in 40 years terms of divorces.
- Total divorces are at their lowest figure in over 40 years.
- Between 2010-17, total divorces were 21% lower than 1970-79 and 42% lower than 1990-99!
- The most recent average yearly divorce rate is 111357 divorces each year (2010-17) compared to 112985 (1970-79).
- At its highest rate between 1990-99, there were an average of 154,477 divorces per year in the UK. That’s 36% higher than the most recent decade.
The results are simple: we are divorcing far less often than we have at any other time in the past 40 years.
But how do we compare to the world?
Around the world, the compares pretty favourably. Using data from the UN Demographic Yearbook 2017 we can see that the UK has a relatively low rate of divorce at 1.8 per 1,000 people.
The average rate across the world per 1,000 is 2.0.
Compared to countries in America, Europe and around the world, people in the UK are divorcing far less.
● Qatar + Guatemala share the lowest divorce rate in the world at just 0.4 divorces per 1000 people.
● Russia has the highest at 4.2 divorces per 1000.
● The UK has a relatively low divorce rate compared to other western countries and is 0.2 below the global average.
About Sophia Yau-Rosher – Partner
Sophia has been with Beecham Peacock since 2003 and a partner in the firm since 2006. She has 20 years’ experience in family law work.
Her particular interests lie in proceedings concerning matrimonial assets and children.
She is an accredited specialist with Resolution in the areas of Advanced Financial Provision and Private Children Law. She is also Accredited on the Law Society Advanced Accreditation scheme for work relating to Domestic Abuse.
Highly motivated with a strong sense of fairness and justice, Sophia always strives for her clients.