Divorce: The dissolution of a marriage or civil union. An application for marriage or civil union dissolution can be made by either partner on grounds that the marriage or civil union has broken down irreconcilably, provided a two-year separation requirement is satisfied. One or both partners must usually live in New Zealand. The Family Court grants Dissolution Orders. Family Courts are located throughout New Zealand but since 2014 almost all applications for divorce have been processed by the Wellington court.
Divorce Rate: Orders for dissolution of marriage and civil union granted in New Zealand per 1,000 estimated existing marriages and civil unions.
In 2014, divorce rates changed from solely divorces as a proportion of the population, to cover all dissolutions of marriages and civil unions. Divorce rates were revised from 2006 onwards.
The sharp rise in the number of divorces in the early 1980s mainly reflects the legislative changes introduced in 1981. The Family Proceedings Act 1980, passed in 1981, meant that an application for marriage dissolution could be made by either the husband or wife on the grounds that the marriage had broken down irreconcilably, provided a two-year separation requirement was satisfied. Many couples who could satisfy the two-year separation requirement for the single ground of irreconcilable marriage breakdown sought the simpler Family Court dissolution.
At URL provided, select 'Population > Marriage and Divorce Rates - DMR > Divorce rate (total population) (Annual-Dec)'. All variables were selected to create this dataset.
From the dataset Marriages, Civil Unions, and Divorces: Divorce rate for the total population 2025, this data was extracted:
Rows: 3-67
Column: 2
Provided: 65 data points
Dataset originally released on:
May 04, 2026
About this dataset
Divorce data are published annually and unless otherwise stated refer to orders for dissolution of both marriage and civil union granted in New Zealand.
Method of collection/Data provider
Ministry of Justice provides a quarterly electronic file of orders for dissolution of marriage and civil unions granted in New Zealand. The data is compiled from information collected by the family courts.