Separations in Italy jumped 57.3% between 1995-2005 but in 2005 dipped 1.1% over the previous year, while the divorce rate rose steadily, national statistics bureau Istat said on Tuesday.
In its annual report on separations and divorces, Istat said the number of divorces over the 10-year period leapt 74%.
In 2005, the report observed, there were 5.6 separations and 3.2 divorces per 1000 married couples.
The report also found that 85% of separations and 77.6% of divorces were consensual.
According to Istat, broken marriages lasted an average of 14 years, while the average age at the time of separation was 43 for the husband and 40 for the wife.
Istat also found that surprisingly one fourth of separations took place within six months of marriage.
Looking at 2005, Istat reported that 18.7% of broken marriages lasted no more than four years, down from 24.4% in 1995.
Another 21.9% of failed marriages lasted 5-9 years and 21.1% 10-14 years.
This was followed by a decline in the trend - 14.6% between 15-19 years and 9.7% between 20-24 years - until after 25 years of marriage, which represented 14.8% of failed marriage.
