What decade had the highest divorce rate?

The number of couples getting divorced has fallen according to the latest ONS statistics. Photograph: Mike Kemp/Getty Images

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The number of divorces in England and Wales have slightly increased- as shown by the latest figures out today from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showing a total of 118,140 divorces in 2012 - an increase of 0.5% since 2011.

According to the release in 2012 - the latest year published - there were a total of 118,140 divorces, a slight increase on 2011, when there were 117,558. Of the 2012 total, almost half of these divorces occurred in the first 10 years of marriage, with divorces most likely to occur between the fourth and eighth wedding anniversary. The ONS release also shows that 71% of divorces were for first marriages.

The 2010 divorce figure was one of the first increases in several years and as we previously reported , was up 4.9% on the 2009 total.

In its latest release, the ONS have also included a selection of facts about the 2012 divorce statistics which you can find below:

• There were 13 divorces an hour in England and Wales in 2012• Women were granted 65% of all divorces• 9,703 men and 6,026 women aged over 60 got divorced• One in seven divorces were granted as a result of adultery• 719 (less than 1%) divorces were granted because of desertion• The average age at divorce was 45 for men and 42 for women• 9% of couples divorcing had both been divorced before
• 48% of couples divorcing had at least one child aged under 16 living with the family

• It is expected that 42% of marriages will end in divorce

In 2012, 10.8 people divorced per thousand married population, a decrease of 19% compared with 13.3 in 2002.

The first chart below is where people get the idea of half of all marriages ending in divorce. But what it really shows is that for each year, an equivalent of half the number of people getting married get divorced - rather than half of all the married people in the country.

Divorce rates are better to look at - this is a rate of divorces per 1,000 married people in the country. The chart below shows the divorce rate from 1971-2012.

If you look at where the line goes up there's an interesting - if small - trend: there are peaks in the early 1980s, 1990s, 2000s and the increase in 2010 before the slight drop with the 2011 rate. The common factor of those dates? Recession.

Interesting to compare these to the marriage statistics too - but we won't get the full stats from the ONS until next year.

The data is below - check out the attached spreadsheet for loads more, including details about children and causes. Can you visualise it for us?

Data summary

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Year	Total	Median age at divorce, husband	Median age at divorce, wife	Median duration of marriage, wife	Divorces per thousand married population
1950	30,870	36.6	33.8
1951	28,767	37.2	34.4
1952	33,922	37.7	34.7
1953	30,326	37.6	34.6
1954	28,027	37.7	34.6
1955	26,816	37.7	34.5
1956	26,265	38.0	34.7
1957	23,785	38.5	35.4
1958	22,654	38.5	35.6
1959	24,286	38.4	35.5
1960	23,868	38.2	35.3
1961	25,394	38.0	35.0
1962	28,935	38.0	35.0
1963	32,052	37.6	34.6	11.5
1964	34,868	37.1	34.2	11.3
1965	37,785	36.9	34.0	11.2
1966	39,067	36.5	33.7	11.1
1967	43,093	36.3	33.4	11
1968	45,794	36.1	33.2	11
1969	51,310	35.6	32.6	10.7
1970	58,239	35.3	32.4	10.5
1971	74,437	36.6	33.6	11.5	5.9
1972	119,025	37.4	34.4	12.2	9.5
1973	106,003	36.2	33.4	11.3	8.4
1974	113,500	35.9	33.5	10.9	9.0
1975	120,522	35.6	33.2	10.6	9.6
1976	126,694	35.4	33.1	10.5	10.1
1977	129,053	35.4	33.0	10.4	10.3
1978	143,667	35.5	33.0	10.4	11.6
1979	138,706	35.3	32.8	10.2	11.2
1980	148,301	35.2	32.9	10.1	12.0
1981	145,713	35.4	33.2	10.1	11.9
1982	146,698	35.6	33.4	10.1	12.1
1983	147,479	36.0	33.7	10.1	12.2
1984	144,501	36.4	34.0	10.1	12.0
1985	160,300	35.7	33.1	8.9	13.4
1986	153,903	36.2	33.6	9.4	12.9
1987	151,007	36.4	33.7	9.5	12.7
1988	152,633	36.7	34.0	9.7	12.8
1989	150,872	36.7	34.0	9.7	12.7
1990	153,386	36.8	34.1	9.8	13.0
1991	158,745	37.0	34.3	9.8	13.5
1992	160,385	37.2	34.5	9.9	13.9
1993	165,018	37.3	34.7	9.8	13.8
1994	158,175	37.6	34.9	9.8	14.2
1995	155,499	37.9	35.3	9.6	13.7
1996	157,107	38.1	35.6	9.9	13.6
1997	146,689	38.4	36.0	10	13.0
1998	145,214	38.7	36.3	10.2	12.9
1999	144,556	39.2	36.9	10.5	12.9
2000	141,135	39.7	37.3	10.7	12.7
2001	143,818	40.0	37.7	10.9	12.9
2002	147,735	40.4	38.2	11.1	13.3
2003	153,065	40.9	38.7	11.3	13.9
2004	152,923	41.4	39.2	11.5	14.0
2005	141,322	42.0	39.8	11.6	12.9
2006	132,140	42.4	40.1	11.6	12.1
2007	128,131	42.7	40.5	11.7	11.8
2008	121,708	43.0	40.8	11.5	11.2
2009	113,949	43.2	40.9	11.4	10.5
2010	119,589	43.4	41.1	11.4	11.1
2011	117,558	43.8	41.6	11.5	10.8
2012	118,140	44.1	41.8	11.5	10.8