A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

Indicator 5. Marriage and Divorce Rates

Marriage and divorce rates, selected countries: 1960 to 1988

_________________________________________________________                      |        |        |        |        Country       |  1960  |  1970  |  1980  |  1988 _____________________|________|________|________|________                            Marriages per 1,000 persons  United States .......     8.5     10.6     10.6      9.7 Belgium ..............    7.2      7.6      6.7      6.0 Denmark .............     7.8      7.4      5.2      6.3 France ..............     7.0      7.8      6.2      4.9 Germany, former West      9.4      7.3      5.9      6.5 Greece ...............    7.0      7.7      6.5      4.8 Ireland ..............    5.5      7.0      6.4   1/ 5.1 Italy ...............     7.7      7.3      5.7   1/ 5.5 Luxembourg ...........    7.1      6.3      5.9      5.5 Netherlands .........     7.8      9.5      6.4      6.0 Portugal .............    7.8      ---      7.4      6.9 Spain ................    7.7      7.3      5.9   1/ 5.5 United Kingdom ......     7.5      8.5      7.4      6.9                                 Divorces per 1,000                                   married women  United States .......     9.2     14.9     22.6     20.7 Belgium ..............    2.0      2.6      5.6      8.4 Canada ..............     1.8      6.3     10.9   2/12.9 Denmark .............     5.9      7.6     11.2     13.1 France ..............     2.9      3.3      6.3      8.4 Germany, former West      3.6      5.1      6.1   3/ 8.8 Italy ...............     ---      1.3      0.8   1/ 2.1 Japan ..............      3.6      3.9      4.8   2/ 5.4 Luxembourg ...........    2.0      2.6      6.5      --- Netherlands .........     2.2      3.3      7.5      8.1 Portugal .............    0.4      0.2      ---      --- Sweden ..............     5.0      6.8     11.4   2/11.7 United Kingdom4/.....     2.0      4.7     12.0     12.3 _________________________________________________________ 

1/Estimated.
2/Data are for 1986.
3/Data are for 1987.
4/Data prior to 1988 are for England and Wales only.

NOTE: Countries collect data on marriage and divorce at different intervals. For purposes of this table, therefore, some countries do no necessarily appear on both sections.

SOURCE: Statistical Office of the European Communities, Demographic Statistics, 1988 and 1990; and various national sources. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Center for Health Statistics, Monthly Vital Statistics Report, 1990.