Data from the Federal Statistical Office shows that the number of divorces in Germany rose for the second consecutive year.
According to the statistics published recently, approximately 130,100 marriages were dissolved by court order in Germany in 2025. This represents an increase of 716 divorces, or 0.6 percent, compared to the previous year. Looking at the long term, however, the number of divorces has been declining for over 20 years, barring a few exceptions. In 2025, divorces were still 39 percent lower than they were in 2003, when the figures reached their highest level since German reunification. The lowest recorded number was reached in 2023, and since then, the figure has shown a slight increase.
Factoring in population density, 1.56 marriages were dissolved per 1,000 inhabitants in 2025, slightly higher than in 2024 (1.54).
The trend is also downward for marriages. In 2025, 348,800 marriages were entered into, which was 0.1 percent or 403 less than in 2024, and 8.9 percent fewer than in 2003. This figure marked the lowest number of marriages since the start of the record series in 1950. The marriages involved roughly 339,900 men and women (compared to 340,400 in 2024), and 8,900 same-sex unions (up from 8,800 in 2024).
Concerning children, minors were affected in slightly more than half of the 2025 divorces (51.7 percent, or around 67,200 cases). The proportion was lowest in 2023 (50.8 percent, or approximately 65,600), while the highest was recorded in 1999 (48.2 percent, or nearly 91,800). Among the 2025 divorces involving minors, 47.6 percent had one child, 40.5 percent had two, and 11.9 percent had three or more. This confirms an ongoing trend: the share of divorces involving one child is decreasing, while the share involving two or more children is increasing. In total, about 113,400 minors were impacted by their parents’ separation in 2025.
Most of the dissolved marriages (81.0 percent) followed a separation period of one year. Separations after a three-year period accounted for 18.0 percent of cases; in these instances, it is strongly presumed that the marriage had genuinely failed. In 1.0 percent of cases, divorce regulations relevant to pre-one-year separations or those under foreign law were applied.
On average, the married couples who divorced in 2025 had been married for 14 years and 7 months. For about 16.0 percent of couples (20,800), the divorce occurred in or after the “silver wedding” year. This figure was between 10 and 11 percent in the 1990s, rising until the mid-2010s to its current range of 16 to 18 percent.
Regarding the legal process, 90.1 percent of divorces in 2025 were filed with the consent of the spouse. Five point eight percent were jointly submitted by both parties, while the remaining 4.1 percent were filed when one spouse disagreed with the submitted application.
In 2025, roughly 1,700 same-sex couples filed for divorce. This was a 10.0 percent increase, or 154 more same-sex couples, than in 2024. Divorces among same-sex couples made up 1.3 percent of all divorces in 2025. The “marriage for all” law had been introduced in Germany in October 2017.
