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Germany Records Fewest Marriages Since 1950 as Divorces Rise Slightly

Falling wedding rates reflect broad demographic change alongside new confidentiality adjustments to how marriage counts are published.

Overview

  • The Federal Statistical Office reported Friday that about 130,100 marriages were dissolved by court order in 2025, a 0.6 percent increase from 2024.
  • In 2025 roughly 348,800 marriages were registered, down 0.1 percent from the year before and the lowest annual total since the series began in 1950.
  • Just over half of divorces involved underage children, with about 113,400 minors affected and a growing share of divorces involving two or more children rather than only one.
  • Most divorces followed the standard one-year separation route (81 percent), about 90 percent of petitions were filed with the spouse's consent, and the average marriage lasted 14 years and seven months before divorce.
  • Long-term context shows divorces remain well below their 2003 peak with 39.2 percent fewer cases, same-sex divorces rose to about 1,700 in 2025, and experts link the shifts to changing partner markets, care burdens and new post-separation family arrangements.