The divorce rate in Brazil has soared since the country’s National Congress removed the need for a lengthy wait.
According to new figures from national Brazilian statistics and census agency IBGE, there were over351,000 divorces in the populous Catholic country last year, an increase of more than 45 per cent since 2010. The country’s divorce rate now stands at 2.6 for every 1,000 inhabitants over the age of 15, the highest percentage since 1984.
That year, the country’s Congress amended its constitution, removing the need for a couples to be legally separated for a year before a divorce could be obtained.
Claudio Crespo, coordinator of the IBGE study, said: “With the new regulations, a person who married last week can get a divorce today. That was impossible before.”
Brazilian couples can be divorced by notary as long as they have reached an agreement and there are no children or other dependents.
