Divorces in 2025: marriages now last a record 13 years

What the ONS reported

The Office for National Statistics released its latest divorce figures for England and Wales on 23 September 2026, covering the calendar year 2025. The headline total was 105,961 legal partnership dissolutions. That figure breaks down into 105,002 divorces and 959 civil partnership dissolutions. It also includes 301 nullity orders, which are separate from divorce and dissolution and are counted within the overall total.

The 2025 total sits close to recent years. There were 103,816 dissolutions in 2023 and 105,664 in 2024, so the three years form a relatively flat run rather than a sharp rise or fall. The comparison with earlier decades is more striking. In the 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s, there were around 150,000 divorces a year. The current figure is roughly two thirds of that peak level, even though the married population and the adult population are larger than they were then.

Rates tell a similar story. The divorce rate for opposite-sex couples was 8.4 per 1,000 opposite-sex married people in 2025. The peak was 14.2 per 1,000 in 1993. The rate for same-sex marriages was 19.5 per 1,000, which is much higher, but the ONS notes that this figure is subject to greater sampling variability because same-sex married people make up less than 1 percent of the adult population. Small changes in the number of divorces can therefore move the same-sex rate by a noticeable amount from year to year.

Marriages are lasting longer before they end

The median duration of marriage at divorce for opposite-sex couples was 13.0 years in 2025. This is the longest since the series began in 1963, and it is a substantial change from the record low of 8.9 years in 1985. The median is the midpoint: half of divorces happen sooner than that duration and half happen later. A rise from 8.9 years to 13.0 years means the typical marriage that ends in divorce now lasts around four years longer than it did four decades ago.

The pattern is not confined to opposite-sex couples. For same-sex civil partnerships, the median duration at dissolution was 13.7 years for male couples and 13.6 years for female couples, the longest recorded for both. Same-sex marriages show a different picture because the legal form is much newer. The median at divorce was 7.5 years for male couples and 6.6 years for female couples. Those figures are shorter largely because same-sex marriage has only existed since 2014, so no couple in that group could have been married for 13 years by 2025.

There were 2,123 same-sex divorces in 2025, the highest annual figure since they began in 2015. That rise reflects the growth of the population eligible to divorce. The estimated number of people in same-sex marriages rose from 26,194 in 2015 to 218,204 in 2025. More marriages in existence means more divorces in absolute terms, even if the rate per 1,000 married people were unchanged.

What no-fault divorce changed

In 2025, 94.2 percent of all dissolutions, or 99,795, were granted under the legislation that came into effect on 6 April 2022 following the Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act 2020. In 2022, the first year in which the new law operated for part of the year, the equivalent share was 9.2 percent. The shift to the new framework is now effectively complete, and the old fault-based route accounts for a small residue of cases.

Under the new legislation, applicants are no longer required to prove one or more facts when seeking a divorce. The old requirement to establish adultery, unreasonable behaviour, desertion or a period of separation has gone. Because the legal basis no longer turns on those facts, the ONS no longer publishes grounds for divorce. That removes a long-standing series from the statistics and changes what can be said about why individual marriages ended.

The new law also allows a single application or a joint application. Of cases granted under the new legislation in 2025, 74.1 percent were sole applications and 25.9 percent were joint. For divorces specifically, the sole share was 74.3 percent. For civil partnership dissolutions, the sole share was lower, at 52.0 percent. The joint route is therefore used in about a quarter of divorce cases and in close to half of civil partnership dissolution cases, a difference that may reflect the smaller and different population involved in civil partnerships.

Who is applying

Among opposite-sex sole applications under the new law, 61.2 percent were from female applicants and 35.6 percent from male applicants. Sex information was missing in the remaining 3.2 percent of cases. The female share is a majority but not an overwhelming one, and it describes who made the application rather than who wanted the marriage to end. A sole application can be made by one party without the other party's agreement, so the applicant is simply the person who started the legal process.

The same-sex figures come with a caveat. The ONS states that the same-sex divorce rate is subject to greater sampling variability because same-sex married people make up less than 1 percent of the adult population. The same caution applies to breakdowns of same-sex cases by sex, application type and duration. Percentages based on a small number of cases can move around from year to year without indicating a real change in behaviour.

For context, there were 2,123 same-sex divorces in 2025. That is a small fraction of the 105,002 divorces overall. Any split of that group into male and female couples, or into sole and joint applications, produces numbers small enough that year-on-year comparisons should be treated with care. The direction of travel, with more same-sex divorces as more same-sex marriages exist, is clear. The finer detail is less stable.

The cohort picture

The ONS also looks at marriage cohorts, following couples who married in a given year to see how many have divorced by a set point. An estimated 16.3 percent of couples who married in 2015 had divorced before their 10th anniversary. For the 1995 cohort, the equivalent figure was 24.7 percent. For the 1965 cohort, it was 9.9 percent. The 2015 cohort therefore has a lower 10-year divorce rate than the 1995 cohort, which reverses the earlier upward trend.

The comparison between 1965 and 1995 shows the rise that many people associate with divorce statistics. The comparison between 1995 and 2015 shows a fall. Couples marrying in 2015 were less likely to have divorced within a decade than couples marrying in 1995. That does not mean marriages are now more stable in every respect, because the cohort measure only captures divorces within the first 10 years and says nothing about what happens afterwards.

This cohort data sits alongside the duration figures. If fewer recent marriages end within 10 years, and the median duration at divorce is now 13.0 years, the two findings point in the same direction: marriages that do end are ending later. The 2015 cohort has not yet reached the point where its full divorce profile is known, so the 16.3 percent figure is a snapshot at the 10-year mark rather than a final total.

Why the duration figure matters financially

A median duration of 13.0 years rather than 8.9 years changes the financial shape of a divorce. A couple divorcing after 13 years is more likely to own a home jointly, to have built up workplace or personal pensions, and to have commingled savings, debts and current accounts. A couple divorcing after 9 years may have some of those assets, but the balances and the entanglement are usually smaller. The longer the marriage, the more there is to divide and the more records are needed to establish what exists.

Adult children are also more likely to be part of the picture at 13 years. That can mean the end of a marriage coincides with children finishing education, starting work or leaving home, which affects housing needs and the timing of any sale. It does not change the legal principles, but it changes the practical questions that arise when a household is reorganised.

It is important to separate two legal steps. Ending a marriage is one process, and settling money and property is another. A divorce order dissolves the marriage. It does not, by itself, divide pensions, transfer a home or close down claims between the parties. Those matters are dealt with through a financial settlement, which can be agreed and made into a court order or decided by a court. A divorce can be completed while financial claims remain open, and the two timetables do not have to match. The KT divorce money guide covers how settlements are approached and what information is typically needed.

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Frequently asked questions

How many divorces were there in England and Wales in 2025?

The ONS recorded 105,961 legal partnership dissolutions in 2025. This comprised 105,002 divorces and 959 civil partnership dissolutions, and included 301 nullity orders.

How long does the average marriage last before divorce?

The median duration of marriage at divorce for opposite-sex couples was 13.0 years in 2025. This is the longest since the series began in 1963, up from a record low of 8.9 years in 1985.

How does 2025 compare with previous years?

The 2025 total of 105,961 is similar to 2023 (103,816) and 2024 (105,664). It is lower than the peak levels of the 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s, when there were around 150,000 divorces a year.

What share of divorces used the no-fault law?

In 2025, 94.2 percent of all dissolutions, or 99,795, were granted under the legislation that came into effect on 6 April 2022. In 2022 the share was 9.2 percent.

Who applies for divorce under the new law?

Of cases granted under the new legislation in 2025, 74.1 percent were sole applications and 25.9 percent joint. Among opposite-sex sole applications, 61.2 percent were from female applicants and 35.6 percent from male applicants, with sex information missing in 3.2 percent.