The number of divorces among same-sex couples rose by over 40 percent in England and Wales in 2020 despite an overall decrease in courts dissolving marriages of 4.5%.

The latest figures from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) show in 2020, there were 1,154 divorces among same-sex couples, increasing by 40.4% from 2019.

Of these, the majority continued to be accounted for by female same-sex divorces (71.3%).

There were 102,438 opposite-sex divorces in 2020, decreasing by 4.8% from 107,599 in 2019.

For same-sex divorces, ‘unreasonable behaviour’ was the most common reason for divorce in 2020 for both female and male couples; unreasonable behaviour accounted for 55.2% of female divorces and 57.0% of male divorces.

In 2020, the average (median) duration of marriage at the time of divorce was 11.9 years for opposite-sex couples, a decrease from 12.4 years in 2019.

For same-sex divorces in 2020, the average (median) duration of marriage at the time of divorce was 4.7 years for female couples and 5.4 years for male couples. Divorces among same-sex couples have only been possible since 2015 following the introduction of same-sex marriages in March 2014.