What Is the Number One Cause of Divorce in the UK?

Number One Cause of Divorce

If you have searched for the number one cause of divorce in the UK, you have probably found a different answer on every page. Some point to money, some to affairs, some to a slow drift apart. The honest position is that there is no longer one official reason, because the law changed in 2022 and couples no longer have to give a cause at all. If you have reached the point of ending your marriage, the process itself is more straightforward than it used to be. Below, we look at what the divorce statistics UK data actually shows, what changed with no-fault divorce, and the real reasons behind most marriages ending.

Is There a Single Number One Cause of Divorce in the UK?

The short answer is that it depends on what you mean by “cause”. There are two very different things people are asking about when they search for the leading cause of divorce.

• The legal reason: the ground you gave the court to end the marriage. Since April 2022 there is only one, and it does not involve blame.
• The real reason: the human story behind the decision, such as an affair, constant arguments, or simply falling out of love.

For decades the two were tangled together, because the law forced couples to pick a legal reason that fitted their real one. Now they have been separated, which is exactly why the most common reason for divorce is a harder question to answer than it once was.

How Has the Cause of Divorce Changed Under No-Fault Divorce?

The biggest shift happened on 6 April 2022, when the Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act 2020 came into force. Before that date, one spouse had to prove the marriage had broken down by relying on one of five facts. If you could not show a long period of separation, you usually had to point the finger at the other person.

The old grounds for divorce compared with the single no-fault ground that replaced them in April 2022.

Today, ending a marriage is largely an administrative process. You apply, confirm in a statement that the marriage has broken down irretrievably, wait a minimum period, and pay the court fee to apply, which is £628 as of July 2026. You cannot be stopped by the other person simply refusing. Because no reason is recorded, the official cause of divorce has effectively disappeared from the paperwork.

What Do the Latest Divorce Statistics UK Sources Show?

Even without a recorded reason, the numbers tell a clear story. According to the most recent Office for National Statistics figures, there were 105,002 divorces in England and Wales in 2025, similar to the level in 2023 and 2024. Of those, 94.2% were granted under the no-fault law, and nearly three quarters of no-fault divorces (74.1%) came from one person applying alone rather than jointly. See our full report on divorce statistics updated for 2026.

Two more points are useful to know when you read divorce statistics UK reports:

• Divorce is not on the rise: despite the popular belief that around half of all marriages fail, divorce rates have actually declined since the 1990s.
• 2022 was an unusual year: only 80,057 divorces were completed, the lowest figure since 1971, mainly because the new 20-week waiting period pushed many cases into 2023.

Before the law changed, the figures also recorded the reason each person gave. In 2021, the last full year of the old system, unreasonable behaviour accounted for 48.1% of divorce applications by women and 34.8% by men. That made it the leading cause of divorce in the official record, and it had been the most common ground for wives for more than 40 years and for husbands since 2006. Unreasonable behaviour was popular because it was broad. It covered everything from ongoing arguments and emotional neglect to controlling behaviour, so a couple could use it even when there was no single dramatic event.

Why Do Marriages Fail in the First Place?

Ask a family mediator why do marriages fail, and very few will point to a single event. Most breakdowns build up slowly. Relationship researchers, including the psychologist John Gottman, have found that patterns like constant criticism, contempt and shutting down predict divorce far more reliably than any one argument. By the time a couple reaches a solicitor or a mediator, the affair or the row that seemed to cause it is often the last straw rather than the whole story.

That is why the reasons below overlap so much. Money worries lead to arguments, arguments wear down communication, and poor communication makes a couple feel like strangers. Understanding the pattern usually matters more than naming a single culprit.

What Are the Top Reasons for Divorce That UK Couples Give?

When you set the legal grounds aside, the same themes come up again and again.

These are the top reasons for divorce UK couples and family professionals report most often:

• Growing apart or falling out of love
• Communication breakdown and constant arguments
• Money worries and different attitudes to spending
• Infidelity and loss of trust
• Lack of commitment or feeling taken for granted
• Domestic abuse and coercive control
• Addiction, whether alcohol, gambling or drugs
• Lack of intimacy or emotional connection
• Marrying young, or two people growing in different directions

Have You and Your Partner Simply Grown Apart?

This is the reason couples report most often. People change over the years, and shared interests can quietly fade. Retirement, children leaving home, or a demanding new job can all expose how far two people have drifted. There is often no villain, just two people who now want different things. Under the old law, many of these couples had to wait two years and file on separation, or reluctantly cite behaviour instead.

Has Communication Broken Down?

Poor communication sits underneath almost every other reason on this list, and some research points to it as the single biggest factor in couples separating. When honest conversations stop, small problems are left to grow and each partner starts to feel unheard. Arguments become repetitive, or they stop happening at all because it feels pointless. Mediation, in fact, is largely about rebuilding those conversations for long enough to reach practical decisions.

Are Money Worries Driving You Apart?

Money is one of the most common causes of tension in a marriage, and the pressures of recent years have not helped. It is often not a shortage of money itself but different attitudes to it, one partner saving while the other spends, or debts kept hidden. When you do separate, dividing your finances fairly is one of the biggest tasks. Our guide to reaching a financial settlement on divorce explains how assets, pensions and property are usually split, and any agreement you reach can be made legally binding through a consent order.

Has There Been Infidelity or a Loss of Trust?

Affairs remain one of the most cited reasons behind a marriage ending. Around one in ten divorce applications under the old system named adultery, though the true figure is higher, because emotional affairs and same-sex relationships never fitted the legal definition. What breaks a marriage is rarely the act itself but the loss of trust that follows, which many people find they cannot rebuild however hard they try.

Could Abuse or Addiction Be a Factor?

Some marriages end because staying is no longer safe. Domestic abuse is not only physical: it includes emotional abuse, financial control and coercive control. Addiction to alcohol, gambling or drugs can have a similar effect, wearing down trust and stability over time. If you are in this position, please know that support is available and you do not have to attend mediation with an abusive partner. Domestic abuse is one of the recognised reasons you can be exempt from a MIAM, and you are welcome to speak to us in confidence about your options first.

Can Mediation Help Whatever the Cause of Divorce?

Whatever the cause of divorce in your case, the practical questions are the same. How will you divide your money and property? Where will the children live, and how will you share time? These are exactly the issues family mediation is designed to sort out.

Mediation is a series of meetings with a trained, neutral mediator who helps you both reach your own agreement. It is usually less stressful, quicker and less expensive than paying solicitors to argue in court. Most couples start with a MIAM, a short introductory meeting to see whether mediation is right for you. For child arrangements, a government voucher of up to £500 per family can go towards the cost.

You do not need to agree on why the marriage ended to make mediation work. You only need to be willing to focus on the future. If you are ready, you can book a MIAM online, or arrange a free call using the options below if you would like to talk things through first. Our page on family mediation statistics provides more information on success rates.

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