Love is a beautiful thing, and when two people are in love, they often choose to get married. However, not everyone is prepared for the difficult times that may come in a marriage. When things go wrong, many people decide to separate or file for divorce.
The reasons for this can vary from person to person, but it could be infidelity, incompatibility, or a lack of commitment. Statistics show that lack of commitment is the most common reason for divorce, accounting for 75% of all divorces worldwide.
According to the United States National Center for Health Statistics, approximately four to five million people get married in the USA each year, and between 42% to 53% of those marriages end in divorce, making the USA one of the countries with the highest divorce rates.
Countries with Leading Divorce Rates
Divorce rates are calculated in many ways. The most common approach involves dividing a country’s total number of divorces by the population, which yields the crude divorce rate. The metric is then expressed per 1000 residents. For example, if a country with a population of 100,000 has 500 divorces in a year, its divorce rate would be five divorces per 1000 people.
Maldives leads the pack of the countries with the highest divorce rates globally at 5.52 divorces per 1000 people, which is half the rate the country had in 2002, where the rate was 10.97. The second country on the list is the US which, according to the CDC, had a divorce rate of 5.1, the lowest since 2000.
Other countries with the highest divorce rates per 1000 individuals include Cuba, Estonia, Panama, Ukraine, Russia, Antigua and Barbuda, Belgium, Moldova, and china. India has one of the lowest divorce rates, with statistics showing as low as one percent of all marriages end in divorce compared to the US with 50 percent.
If you look at divorces in terms of sheer numbers, china leads the pack with 1,893,000; the US follows closely at 1,106,670, with Russia, Japan, and Germany following at a distance at 685,910, 257,475, and 190,928 respectively.
Countries Have Different Laws
Different age groups file for divorce for different reasons. For younger couples, responsibilities in the marriage are a big factor in divorces. For older couples, love and attention take precedence.
Countries have different approaches to divorce. In the Philippines, once you are married, you cannot get a divorce. Also, Vatican City, the Roman Catholic faith capital, does not support divorce. Countries such as Sudan, Egypt, Jordan, Algeria, and Pakistan have quite some stringent divorce laws and consequently have some of the most complicated procedures.
On the other hand, Japan has the simplest approach to divorce. Japan follows a 100-day rule. Under the 100-day rule, divorcing parties have a limit of 100 days between initiating a divorce case and when the ruling is made. Other countries with divorce-friendly laws include Argentina, Spain, Sweden, Mexico, Slovenia, and Norway.
You Could Use a Lawyer
“Divorce can have a significant impact on the individuals going through it, but children born in the marriage often bear the greatest burden,” says family lawyer Paul Riley, of The Riley Divorce & Family Law Firm.
Furthermore, divorce cases that involve children tend to have a higher likelihood of becoming contested. It is crucial to have legal representation when undergoing a divorce, particularly when children are involved or when there are disputes over property division.
