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On average, divorced couples in Germany have been married for 14 years and eight months (symbol picture)
Photo: Martin Gerten / DPA
The number of divorces in Germany has fallen slightly again.
Last year around 143,800 married couples were judicially separated in Germany.
The number fell by almost 5200 or 3.5 percent compared to the previous year, as reported by the Federal Statistical Office in Wiesbaden.
With the exception of a slight increase in 2019, divorces had steadily declined since 2012.
The statisticians are not yet able to provide specific information about a corona effect: "The effects of the corona pandemic on the number of divorces will probably only become apparent in the next few years, as a divorce is usually preceded by a separation period of at least one year." , it was said.
In addition, corona-related delays or postponements in the family courts cannot be ruled out.
According to the statistics, around 24,400 or 16.9 percent of couples divorced in 2020 were married for at least 25 years.
On average, the couples would have looked back on 14 years and eight months of marriage.
Twenty-five years ago, marriages ended in divorce after an average of twelve years and one month.
More divorces among same-sex couples
In the case of same-sex couples, the statistics office recorded a significant increase in divorces: According to this, 900 marriages of same-sex couples were divorced last year, compared with around a hundred in the previous year.
Divorce between same-sex couples has only been possible for everyone since the introduction of marriage and has only been recorded statistically since 2019.
Same-sex couples living in a registered civil partnership can only end it by annulment.
The statistical office counted around a thousand of these for the past year.
In the previous year there were about 300 more cancellations.
kim / dpa / AFP