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Divorce in Britain at lowest level since 1971
27 Feb 2024 family law Print

Divorce in Britain at lowest level since 1971

Divorce figures have reached a five-decade low in Britain.

Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures show 80,057 divorces granted in 2022 – down from 113,505 the previous year.

This is the lowest number since 1971.

Cooling-off period

The ONS says that the figures may have been affected by ‘no-fault’ divorce reforms that came into force in 2022. The reforms introduced a minimum 20-week ‘cooling off’ period.

However, in 2020, the numbers marrying in Britain were also at their lowest level on record since 1838.

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