Sweden vs United States: Divorce rate
Sweden
2.1 per 1,000 people
in 2022
United States
2.5 per 1,000 people
in 2021
Sweden rank
7th
United States rank
6th
Divorce rate over time
- Sweden
- United States
How they compare
United States currently reports 2.5 per 1,000 people against 2.1 per 1,000 people in Sweden, a difference of 0.4 per 1,000 people.
That makes United States's figure about 1.2 times Sweden's.
The two have swapped places 2 times across 31 shared years of data; in 1970 it was United States ahead.
Sweden ranks 7th and United States ranks 6th of 43 countries.
Across the 6 decades both report, Sweden averaged higher in 1 and United States in 5.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Sweden | United States | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 1.6 per 1,000 people | 3.5 per 1,000 people | 1.9 per 1,000 people | United States |
| 1980s | 2.4 per 1,000 people | 5 per 1,000 people | 2.6 per 1,000 people | United States |
| 1990s | 2.46 per 1,000 people | 4.46 per 1,000 people | 2 per 1,000 people | United States |
| 2000s | 2.32 per 1,000 people | 3.73 per 1,000 people | 1.41 per 1,000 people | United States |
| 2010s | 2.53 per 1,000 people | 3.17 per 1,000 people | 0.64 per 1,000 people | United States |
| 2020s | 2.4 per 1,000 people | 2.4 per 1,000 people | 0.0005 per 1,000 people | Sweden |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher divorce rate, Sweden or United States?
- United States, at 2.5 per 1,000 people against 2.1 per 1,000 people in Sweden as of 2021.
- What is the difference in divorce rate between Sweden and United States?
- 0.4 per 1,000 people, with United States ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Sweden and United States?
- 31 years are reported by both, from 1970 to 2021.
- How do Sweden and United States rank globally for divorce rate?
- Sweden ranks 7th and United States ranks 6th 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
Number of divorces during a given year per 1,000 people.