Brazil has had the highest number of divorces since 2015

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Brazil recorded, in 2021, the highest number of divorces since 2015. There were 80,573 separations formalized in registry offices, an increase of 3.95% compared to 2020, when the records reached 77,509, and 16.8% when the comparison is with the 69,001 formalized seven years ago.

Since 2017, however, the rate of couples who no longer want to be officially together has increased. On average, for every 100 couples that unite, nine separate.

Metrópoles raised the numbers based on data from the Association of Registrars of Natural Persons (Arpen).

For the Brazilian College of Notaries president, Giselle Oliveira de Barros, the increase in divorces is due to the pandemic’s sociological effect.

“The pandemic created many ‘provisional couples,’ while the quarantine forced a direct and constant cohabitation,” she evaluates. “Added to these factors is the population’s growing demand for the legal security offered by extrajudicial channels.”

The specialist also points out that the possibility of performing divorce online has helped the increase. “The divorce by videoconference boosted the desire of many couples looking for a practical way to perform the act and, many times, without seeing the partner again,” she concludes.

On the other hand, marriages showed growth but have not yet recovered from the drop suffered in the first year of the pandemic. In 2020, the number of unions fell 25.62% and rose 23.01% in 2021. However, the 890,152 marriages in 2021 are still lower than the 972,915 recorded in 2019.

PARÁ STATE HAS THE HIGHEST DIVORCE RATE

The inhabitants of Pará have the highest divorce rate in Brazil in 2021. For every 100 marriages registered in registry offices in the state, 36 other couples decided that the relationship could no longer go on and filed for divorce.

The state has an average of 36 divorces for every 100 marriages, four times the national average of nine for every 100 unions.

On the other side is Alagoas, a state where relationships were more able to see their crises overcome, at least in the last year. With the lowest divorce rate in the country, only two separations were registered for every 100 weddings.

According to the president of the Brazilian College of Notaries – Pará Section (CNB/PA), Larissa Rocha, the high number of divorces in the state is directly related to the “pandemic loves”. According to her, many couples who married early in 2020 regretted the union the following year.

Rocha further explains that with the pandemic slowing down, many couples who were already physically separated decided to make their separation official. “With the pandemic, people became afraid and started looking to resolve any pending issues,” says Rocha. Without being able to resolve their differences, the couples ended up separating.

But why Pará? The president of CNB/PA tries to explain, alleging that the state receives a great flow of people from other states, who often marry people from Pará, but return to their home states. The analysis is empirical. No study has looked into the reasons for such a high rate in the state.

“The people from Pará are extremely receptive, warm, friendly, and end up having these passionate relationships, but they don’t last long,” concludes Larissa Rocha.