Spain vs United Kingdom: Divorce rate

Spain
1.7 per 1,000 people
in 2022
United Kingdom
1.7 per 1,000 people
in 2020
Spain rank
23rd
United Kingdom rank
23rd

Divorce rate over time

  • Spain
  • United Kingdom
0123196519932022

How they compare

Spain currently reports 1.7 per 1,000 people against 1.7 per 1,000 people in United Kingdom, a difference of 0 per 1,000 people.

The two have swapped places 4 times across 40 shared years of data; in 1981 it was United Kingdom ahead.

Spain ranks 23rd and United Kingdom ranks 23rd of 43 countries.

Across the 5 decades both report, Spain averaged higher in 1 and United Kingdom in 4.

Head to head by decade

Decade Spain United Kingdom Difference Ahead
1980s 0.5111 per 1,000 people 2.66 per 1,000 people 2.14 per 1,000 people United Kingdom
1990s 0.78 per 1,000 people 2.8 per 1,000 people 2.02 per 1,000 people United Kingdom
2000s 1.71 per 1,000 people 2.51 per 1,000 people 0.8 per 1,000 people United Kingdom
2010s 2.1 per 1,000 people 1.87 per 1,000 people 0.23 per 1,000 people Spain
2020s 1.6 per 1,000 people 1.7 per 1,000 people 0.1 per 1,000 people United Kingdom

Averages of every year both report within each decade.

Frequently asked questions

Which has higher divorce rate, Spain or United Kingdom?
Spain, at 1.7 per 1,000 people against 1.7 per 1,000 people in United Kingdom as of 2022.
What is the difference in divorce rate between Spain and United Kingdom?
0 per 1,000 people, with Spain ahead.
How many years of comparable data are there for Spain and United Kingdom?
40 years are reported by both, from 1981 to 2020.
How do Spain and United Kingdom rank globally for divorce rate?
Spain ranks 23rd and United Kingdom ranks 23rd of 43 countries.
Where does this data come from?
OECD (2025) and other sources – with minor processing by Our World in Data, published as Divorce rate. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.

Individual pages

About this data

Indicator
Divorce rate
Unit
per 1,000 people
Source
OECD (2025) and other sources – with minor processing by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
43 places, 2,139 data points, 1960–2022
Last refreshed

Number of divorces during a given year per 1,000 people.