Statistics

Divorce statistics for England and Wales

Divorce numbers set the backdrop for much of family mediation, because the end of a marriage usually brings decisions about children, money and property. This page pulls together the latest quarterly court figures and the annual ONS context, and shows what they mean for how a divorce actually proceeds. Where a divorce involves finances, see our guide to financial mediation; where it involves children, see child arrangements through mediation.

The clearest recent story is speed. Fewer people applied for divorce in early 2026 than a year earlier, but far more reached a final order, and the time it takes fell across the board. The courts appear to be clearing the tail of cases that built up after no-fault divorce arrived.

This page is part of our family mediation statistics hub, where every figure is dated and sourced.

The latest quarterly figures

The Ministry of Justice publishes divorce figures every quarter. The January to March 2026 release shows applications easing while completions surged.

The jump in final orders, up 24%, is the standout. It reflects the courts working through cases that had been sitting in the system, rather than a sudden rise in marriages ending. Applications actually fell 5%, so the pipeline of new divorces is easing even as completions rise.

The split between sole and joint applications is also worth noting at this stage. Just under three quarters of applications, 20,673, were made by one person, while 7,959, or 28%, were made jointly by both spouses. Joint applications were not possible at all before the 2022 law, so their steady share is a sign that a meaningful minority of couples now choose to start the process together rather than one against the other. As the timings later on this page show, that choice tends to pay off in a quicker completion.

Divorces are completing faster

The time it takes to complete a divorce fell on every measure in the latest quarter. Mean times are still lifted by a dwindling tail of older cases, which is why the median is a better guide to how long a typical divorce now takes.

A median of 39 weeks to a final order means a typical divorce now takes roughly nine months from application to end. Part of that is not delay at all but the waiting periods built into the law, which we explain below. The trend is firmly downwards on both the mean and the median.

The difference between the mean and the median is worth understanding, because the two tell slightly different stories. The mean, at 67 weeks, is pulled upwards by a shrinking number of very old cases that are only now completing, so it overstates how long a fresh divorce is likely to take. The median, at 39 weeks, is the midpoint: half of divorces finish faster and half slower, and it is the better guide for anyone starting out. As the backlog of old cases clears, the mean should keep falling towards the median, which is why the 7-week drop in the mean is an encouraging sign rather than a one-off.

Sole versus joint: the cooperation angle

One of the most telling findings sits inside the divorce data. Couples who apply jointly, rather than one person applying against the other, reach a final order noticeably faster.

That is roughly ten weeks quicker for joint applicants. It is a small but revealing signal that couples who start out cooperating tend to get through the process faster. The same logic runs through family mediation, which is built around reaching agreement together rather than fighting it out, and it is why a cooperative, non-court route so often ends up quicker and cheaper than a contested one.

There are practical reasons joint applications move faster. When both people are applying together, there is no need to serve papers on a reluctant respondent, no waiting to see whether the other side will engage, and less scope for one person to hold the process up. The steps simply flow more smoothly when both are pulling in the same direction. It is a reminder that cooperation is not just a nicer way to divorce; it is usually a faster and cheaper one, and the effect shows up clearly in the official timings.

None of this means a joint application is right for everyone. Where there has been abuse or a serious imbalance of power, a sole application is often the safer and more appropriate route, and there is no expectation that separating couples force themselves to act together. The point of the data is narrower: for couples who can cooperate, doing so tends to shorten the process, and the same is true of resolving children and finances by agreement rather than by contest.

The no-fault divorce effect

The Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act 2020 took effect on 6 April 2022. It removed the need to blame one spouse, introduced a minimum 20-week period before a conditional order, and, for the first time, let couples apply jointly. Because the new process built in waiting periods, it shifted the timing of when divorces were granted, which is why figures around 2022 need to be read with care.

The annual ONS context

The quarterly court figures count applications and orders as they move through the system. The Office for National Statistics publishes the fuller annual picture, and its most recent complete year, 2023, gives the wider backdrop.

The 2023 total represents a return towards pre-pandemic levels, after a dip in 2022 linked to the switch to the new divorce process. A median marriage length of 12.7 years shows that most divorces follow long marriages, which usually means shared property, pensions and, often, children to consider.

The distinction between the two data sources is worth holding on to. The Ministry of Justice figures count applications and orders as they pass through the court system each quarter, which makes them the timeliest measure. The ONS figures count completed divorces for a full calendar year and add demographic detail such as marriage length and the ages of those divorcing, but they are published later. Read together, the quarterly court data tells you what is happening now, and the annual ONS data tells you what the settled, fuller picture looked like for the most recent complete year.

A median marriage length approaching thirteen years also has a practical meaning for anyone divorcing. Long marriages tend to involve the most entangled finances: a shared home with equity built up over years, pensions that have grown throughout the marriage, and sometimes children at school or approaching adulthood. That is precisely the kind of situation where resolving matters by agreement, with a consent order to make it binding, saves the most time and money compared with fighting each point in court.

Divorce is not the finance

A common misunderstanding is that the divorce itself deals with money. It does not. Financial matters are separate, and the surge in financial applications, up 11% in the same quarter, shows how many couples are formalising their finances alongside the divorce. Those matters are settled by agreement, often through mediation, and then made binding by a court consent order.

Applications versus completions explained

It helps to understand why applications can fall while final orders rise in the same quarter. The two figures measure different points in the process. An application is the start of a divorce, while a final order is the end, and there is a gap of at least 26 weeks between them because of the built-in waiting periods. So the final orders granted in early 2026 mostly relate to divorces that began months earlier, while the applications counted in the same quarter will not complete until later in the year.

That timing gap is why the 24% rise in final orders sits alongside a 5% fall in applications without contradiction. The completions reflect the courts clearing a backlog of earlier cases, and the fall in new applications suggests the underlying number of divorces is easing rather than surging. Reading the two together gives a truer picture than either figure alone.

Same-sex divorce and the wider mix

The annual ONS figures also show the composition of divorces. In 2023, of the 102,678 divorces, 100,787 were between opposite-sex couples and 1,891 between same-sex couples. Same-sex divorce has been possible since same-sex marriage was introduced, and the numbers have grown gradually as those marriages age. The overwhelming majority of divorces remain between opposite-sex couples, which shapes the wider patterns in marriage length and, often, the presence of children.

What happens after the final order

A point worth stressing is that the final order ends the marriage but does not, by itself, tie up the loose ends. Two things commonly remain: arrangements for any children, and the division of money and property. Neither is resolved by the divorce itself. Children’s arrangements are usually settled through a parenting plan or, if needed, a court order, and finances through an agreement made binding by a consent order. This is why so many couples use the 20-week waiting period to sort those matters in parallel, often through mediation, so that everything finishes close together.

What the data means if you are divorcing

The figures point in a consistent direction. Divorces are completing faster, joint and cooperative approaches finish sooner, and most couples are sorting their finances by agreement rather than in a contested hearing. If you are starting out, the practical steps are the divorce application itself, and, separately, resolving children and finances, where mediation and a consent order usually do the work. See our family court statistics hub for the wider picture.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

1. Office for National Statistics, Divorces in England and Wales: 2023, ons.gov.uk. Accessed 9 July 2026.
2. Ministry of Justice, Family Court Statistics Quarterly: January to March 2026, gov.uk. Accessed 9 July 2026.
3. Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act 2020, legislation.gov.uk. Accessed 9 July 2026.
4. GOV.UK, Get a divorce, gov.uk. Accessed 9 July 2026.