In 2020, the number of divorces in France was of 57,437. France had a divorce rate of 55 per 100 marriages in 2020. A number which was not one of the highest in Europe but that emphasizes the fact that in recent years, divorce is a phenomenon with a significant impact on Western countries.
The characteristics of French divorces
Despite a record number of 152,020 separations in 2005, the number of divorces in France remained stable since the mid-2000s and has also been declining by a rate of 8 percent between 2004 and 2014. Since then, the number of divorces remained almost the same in the country, even though an decrease has been seen between 2016 and 2017. In 2019, the majority of divorces in France were pronounced by mutual consent. Most of divorces pronounced in France concerned marriages which lasted between 4 years and 7 years.
Unions in France
The number of marriages in France is decreasing since 2004 and reached 220,000 in 2021, compared to 236,826 ten years before. Same-sex marriage was legalized in France since 2013, but civil partnerships are the type of unions that increased in recent years. More than 205,000 civil partnerships were contracted in 2010 in France. Implemented in 1999, civil unions in France are established between two individuals regardless of gender.
Total number of divorces in France from 2004 to 2020
The figures have been taken from several publications.
*Until 2016, divorces were court decisions handed down by a family court judge. From 2017, following Act No. 2016-1547 of 18 November 2016 on the modernization of justice in the twenty-first century, divorce proceedings may also be registered by a notary. These are not included in the statistics presented above. The data for 2017 to 2020 are therefore not strictly comparable with the data for previous years.
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Institut National d'Études Démographiques. (February 1, 2024). Total number of divorces in France from 2004 to 2020 [Graph]. In Statista. Retrieved November 26, 2024, from https://www.statista.com/statistics/465782/number-of-divorces-france/
Institut National d'Études Démographiques. "Total number of divorces in France from 2004 to 2020." Chart. February 1, 2024. Statista. Accessed November 26, 2024. https://www.statista.com/statistics/465782/number-of-divorces-france/
Institut National d'Études Démographiques. (2024). Total number of divorces in France from 2004 to 2020. Statista. Statista Inc.. Accessed: November 26, 2024. https://www.statista.com/statistics/465782/number-of-divorces-france/
Institut National d'Études Démographiques. "Total Number of Divorces in France from 2004 to 2020." Statista, Statista Inc., 1 Feb 2024, https://www.statista.com/statistics/465782/number-of-divorces-france/
Institut National d'Études Démographiques, Total number of divorces in France from 2004 to 2020 Statista, https://www.statista.com/statistics/465782/number-of-divorces-france/ (last visited November 26, 2024)
Total number of divorces in France from 2004 to 2020 [Graph], Institut National d'Études Démographiques, February 1, 2024. [Online]. Available: https://www.statista.com/statistics/465782/number-of-divorces-france/