Divorce rate increases in Helsinki during state of emergency

Coronavirus has increased the number of divorce petitions in Helsinki.

According to Yle, altogether the Helsinki District Court received 99 divorce petitions during the past two weeks compared to one year ago when 69 couples decided to divorce.

Although divorce petitions increased in Helsinki, no other big changes have been reported in other parts of the Uusimaa region.

On the contrary, fewer divorce petitions have been filed with the eastern Uusimaa District Court compared to the same period of last year. 85 divorce applications have been filed during the first week of April 2019 to 62 during the same period this year.

In western Uusimaa has a slight increase. 56 couples filed divorce papers at the court between 6 and 19 April in 2019, and 59 couples have done the same during the same period this year.

The Government explains that when the travel restrictions entered into force on 28 March, "Covid-19 incidence in the region of Uusimaa was increasing significantly faster than in the rest of the country. While Uusimaa still has the highest number of Covid-19 cases, the gap with the rest of the country has narrowed."

The Finnish government announced 15 April the imminent reopening of the borders of the Uusimaa region.