Marriages and divorces, 2001

The 10 300 divorces corresponds to 11.8 divorced per 1000 married and separated women. The divorce rates in 2000 and 1999 were 11.5 and 10.4 respectively.

Highest divorce rate in Oslo

Oslo had the highest number of divorces compared with the number of married and separated women. The average divorce rate was 17.0 for the years 1997-2001. Vestfold had the second highest divorce rate with 12.7, and Finnmark 12.3. The lowest divorce rate had Sogn og Fjordane with 6.7, Møre og Romsdal with 8.1 and Nord-Trøndelag 8.6.

More divorced in the most age groups

The number of divorced per 1000 married and separated increased for males and females in almost all age groups. The divorce rate for females increased mostly in the age group 20-24 year, and for males in the age group 30-34 years.

About 50 per cent of the marriages, which were dissolved by divorce, had lasted 12 years or less.

10 800 children below 18 years of age were involved in divorce in 2001. In addition many children were involved in a breakdown in cohabitation between their parents. A test in 1999 showed that 7 500 children were involved.

The risk to get divorced increases

Calculations of the divorce pattern for 2001 reveal that 47.8 per cent of all married couples risk getting divorced. The calculation for last year was 46.8 per cent. The percentage has increased from 9.5 in 1960 to 47.4 in 1994. The period from 1995 to 1999 had lower percentage, but for the last two years the risk increased again.

I 84 per cent of the marriages, which were dissolved by divorce, both spouses were Norwegian citizens. In 13 per cent of the divorces one of the spouses were Norwegian citizen and the other a foreign citizen.

Tables:

• Table 1 Marriages dissolved. Separations. 1961-2001
• Table 2 Divorces and separations, by county. 1981-2001
• Table 3 Divorce rates for males and females in different age groups. 1959-2001
• Table 4 Divorces, by duration of marriage. 1971-2001
• Table 5 Divorces, by number of common children. 1971-2001
• Table 6 Number of children involved in divorces. 1971-2001
• Table 7 Divorces, by number of children and duration of marriage. 2001
• Table 8 Divorces, by age of wife and husband at divorce. 2001
• Table 9 Estimated percentage of marriages dissolved, assuming the divorce rates of each single year. 1960-2001
• Table 10 Divorces 2001. Citizenship of female and male
• Table 11 Divorces, by citizenship of wife and husband. 2001
• Table 12 Children under 18 years of age involved in divorces. County. 2001