More than 53,000 couples divorced last year, half of whom were married less than nine years, Ministry of the Interior data released yesterday showed.
Last year, 53,351 couples divorced, equivalent to 145.8 divorces per day on average, the data showed.
The annual median marriage duration of divorced couples decreased to 8.3 years last year from nine years in 2015, while more than 33 percent of couples who divorced last year were married less than five years, it showed.
The ministry said the curve of divorced couples fluctuated over the past decade.
The number climbed slowly from 53,448 in 2015 to 54,439 in 2017, before declining steadily to 47,888 over the following four years, it said.
That figure rose to 53,351 last year, up by 280, or 0.5 percent, compared with 2023, but down by 97, or 0.2 percent compared with 2015, the ministry said.
Photo: CNA
On the other hand, the divorce rate was 10.5 per 1,000 married couples last year, up 0.1 compared with 2015, it said.
Of all the divorced couples last year, 52,425 were different-sex marriages and 926 were same-sex marriages, the data showed.
Of the same-sex divorces, 238 were male couples and 688 were female couples, it showed.
New Taipei City had the most same-sex divorces last year at 144, followed by Kaohsiung at 138, it showed.
Regarding the duration of marriages, 17,942 lasted less than five years and ended in divorce last year, accounting for the largest portion at 33.6 percent of all divorces last year, it showed.
The data showed that 12,577 of divorces last year were marriages that had lasted more than five years, but less than 10, or 23.6 percent.
The median duration of marriages was 8.3 years, meaning at least half of the couples divorced last year were married less than nine years.
The median marriage length was about the same as that of the previous year, but it was 0.8 years shorter compared with 2015, the data showed.
Most divorced couples, 85.3 percent, were Taiwanese, while 14.8 percent were divorces between a Taiwanese and non-Taiwanese citizen, it showed.
Most spouses in the divorces that did not have Taiwanese citizenship before marrying a Taiwanese were from China, Hong Kong or Macau, accounting for 7.2 percent, followed by those from Southeast Asian countries at 6.1 percent, it showed.
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