- The average duration of marriages ending in divorce in England and Wales reached a record high of 13 years in 2025, according to ONS figures.
- A total of 105,002 divorces were registered in 2025, keeping overall divorce rates stable and below peak levels in the 1980s to 2000s.
- Same-sex divorces reached their highest level since same-sex marriage was introduced a decade earlier, with 2,123 same-sex divorces taking place in 2025.
- Meanwhile, more recent marriages were less likely to end in divorce within the first 10 years than those which took place during the 1980s and 1990s, according to the ONS.
- Lisa Pepper, partner and specialist divorce lawyer at Osbornes Law, suggested one “less romantic reason” for marriages lasting longer before divorce “is likely to be that couples can’t afford to get divorced”.
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