ONS data highlights prevalence of seven-year divorces

New data released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows that year seven of a marriage is the likeliest divorce point.

This data indicates that there are more than 100,000 divorces per year in the UK, of which 5,505 happen in year seven. This amounts to 5.2% of the total number for last year, which is the highest for a single year. However, the seventh year is not that far ahead of year eight or nine, with 5,328 and 5,358 being recorded for those respectively.

What an analysis of the data shows is that those three years are consistently the point in a marriage when people are most likely to seek divorce solicitors in North Wales or England. They have produced the highest numbers of divorces for the past five years.

All that changes is the order in which they make up the top three. For 2023 and 2025, it was year seven, but in 2022 and 2024, year eight produced the most divorces. For 2021, it was year nine.

A spokesperson for Stephen Rimmer Solicitors told Today’s Family Lawyer that this three-year stretch is when the honeymoon period is over and everyday struggles become apparent.

The spokesperson added:

“Most marriages don’t end because of one dramatic event. More often, couples have gradually grown apart, or the same arguments keep coming back, and by this point some people feel they have tried for long enough.”

At Bennett Smith Solicitors, we can handle everything connected with separation and divorce. To talk to our solicitors in Llandudno, get in touch now.