During 2020 there were 80,015 cases of nullity, separation and divorce in Spain, which is a decrease of 16.1% compared to 2019 and a rate of 1.7 per 1,000 inhabitants, according to data from the Spanish Statistical Office (INE).
The INE highlights that 2020 was not a common year and that the greatest decreases in the annual rate in the number of annulments, separations and divorces were recorded in the quarters in which mobility was restricted due to the pandemic, especially in the second quarter.
By type of process, there were 77,200 divorces, 2,775 separations and 40 annulments.
Divorces represented 96.5% of the total, separations 3.5% and annulments less than 0.1%.
The number of divorces decreased by 15.8% compared to the previous year, the number of separations by 22.7% and the number of annulments by 46.7%.
In 2020 there were 1,095 same-sex divorces (1.4% of the total). Of these, 545 were for men and 551 for women. In addition, there were four separations (0.1% of the total).
Duration of marriages
The average duration of marriages in Spain up to the date of the resolution was 16.6 years, which is slightly lower than in 2019.
Marriages dissolved by divorce had an average duration of 16.3 years, while that of separations was 22.5 years. For its part, the average time elapsed between marriage and annulment was 11.1 years.
32.8% of divorces occurred after 20 years of marriage or more, and 19.0% between five and nine years.
In the case of separations, 50.6% of the marriages had a duration of 20 or more years, and 14.9% between 15 and 19 years.
In 82.0% of the divorces of couples of different sex, both spouses were of Spanish nationality. In 10.6% one had a foreign nationality and in 7.4% both were foreigners.
Mean age
The highest number of divorces between spouses of different sex took place in the age group between 40 and 49 years, both in men and in women.
In the separations, the highest number also occurred in the 40-49 year interval.
The mean age of the women was 45.8 years (45.6 years in divorces, 50.3 in separations and 42.9 in annulments).
In the case of men, the mean age was 48.2 years (48.0 years in divorces, 52.8 in separations and 49.2 in annulments).
Mean ages were similar to those registered in 2019, says the INE.
