Germany registers around 129,300 divorces after record low

Around 129,300 marriages were dissolved in Germany in 2024, according to official data released on Thursday.

The figure was roughly in line with the previous year, with a marginal increase of 0.3%, or 329 divorces, the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) reported.

In 2023, the fewest divorces took place since German reunification in 1990, the data showed. Since 2003, the number of divorces has been on a downward trend, except for a few years, according to the statisticians.

Family break-ups

Slightly more than half (50.8%) of couples that divorced in 2024 had underage children. Of these, 48% had one child, 40% had two and 12% had three or more children, the data showed.

This continues a long-standing trend: The divorce rate is falling for couples with one child, while the rate is increasing for couples with two or more children. In 2024, a total of about 111,000 minors were affected by their parents’ divorce.

Seven-year itch?

Most of last year’s divorces (80.5%) were preceded by a one-year separation period. In 18.5% of cases, the couple had been separated for three years.

On average, the couples that divorced in 2024 had been married for 14 years and 8 months. For about 21,200 or 16.4% of the couples, the divorce occurred after 25 years of marriage or more.

The number of new marriages is also generally declining. In 2024, 349,200 marriages were registered, which was 3.3% or 11,800 fewer than in 2023.

In Germany, 340,400 marriages were between a man and a woman in 2024 and 8,800 marriages were between people of the same sex.