A recent bulletin from the Office for National Statistics has revealed the number of divorces that took place in 2010 following court orders in England and Wales. The statistics do not include divorces to couples usually resident in England and Wales which take place abroad.
A marriage may be either dissolved, following a petition for divorce and the granting of a decree absolute, or annulled, following a petition for nullity and the awarding of a decree of nullity. In this release, the term divorce includes both decrees absolute and decrees of nullity.
Key findings of the bulletin include:
- the number of divorces in England and Wales in 2010 was 119,589, an increase of 4.9% since 2009, when there were 113,949 divorces,
- the divorce rate rose in 2010 to 11.1 divorcing people per thousand married population from 10.5 in 2009,
- 22% of marriages in 1970 had ended in divorce by the 15th wedding anniversary, whereas 33% of marriages in 1995 had ended after the same period of time, and
- the number of divorces in 2010 was highest among men and women aged 40 to 44.
