Divorce Statistics and Figures in Australia (Updated 2022-23)

Divorce is directly related to many contributing factors like relationship chemistry, finances, misunderstanding, and much more. Relationships have taken quite a hit, especially during the lockdown. Most couples spent the time working from home and living under constant financial strain from monetary losses.

Such things can invoke house tension leading to broken marriages. That’s why authorities have predicted that the divorce rate in Australia will keep increasing. Here’s everything you need to know about the Australian divorce rate and how distressing events are keeping it high!

Australian Divorce Rate and COVID

The pandemic affected the divorce rate in Australia and the number of marriages. Restrictions on social gatherings have resulted in a decline in marriage numbers. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), there were only 89,164 marriages in 2021. That’s well below the pre-pandemic numbers.

In 2019, the marriage number touched nearly 113,000. Even with a decline in marriage, the divorce rate has gone upward, and the situation is critical now. In Australia, a survey shows that when COVID hit for the first time, 30% of planned weddings were canceled.

Divorce Rate Australia

The divorce rate in Australia increased by over 13.6% in 2021-2022. There were 56,244 divorces in Australia, much higher than 49,510 in 2020 and 48,582 in 2019. With an economic recession and irregular lockdowns, this number is expected to increase in 2022. The official Australian divorce rate numbers pump up the crude divorce rate in 2021 to 2.2 divorces per 1000 people.

The all-time high crude divorce rate recorded was 2.9 per 1000 people, decreasing over the years. But in the last 2-3 years, the divorce rate in Australia has started to rise and is projected to increase further. Here is a graph showing the crude divorce rate in Australia over the past 20 years.

Statistics of Divorce Rate Australia

The Australian divorce rate might be increasing, but the characteristics of granted divorces have been relatively stable over time. The divorced marriages in 2021 had a median marriage duration of approximately 12.2 years, where the median age of the husband was 29.6, and the female median age was 27.3 years. Here are some more quick-read Australian divorce rate statistics.

• In 2021, the highest divorce rate was for males aged 40 to 44 and 45 to 49, with 10.3 divorces per 1000 males in both groups.
• In females the highest divorce rate was for females aged 40 to 44, with 10.4 divorces per 1000 females. The following graph shows age-specific divorce rates per sex in Australia in 2021.

• In 2021, Queensland was the divorce capital of Australia, with a 2.6 divorce crude rate per 1000 people. The Queensland state had a 0.4% higher divorce rate than the national one.
• The most significant proportion of couples divorcing was married for nine to ten years. 56% of separations fall into this category.
• New South Wales recorded a significant increase in divorces, with over 3000 more divorces recorded in 2021.
• There were 473 divorces granted for same-sex couples, including 306 in the female category and 167 in the male category.

Let’s Wind Up

The divorce rate in Australia has been escalating quickly due to several reasons like the COVID lockdown and economic recession. The Australian divorce crude rate per 1000 males has increased over the past two years, and authorities predict it will increase in the upcoming years. The Australian Bureau of Statistics backs all of the above facts and figures.