China

In 2012, the divorce rate in China exceeded the marriage rate. According to China's Ministry of Civil Affairs, 2.87 million people applied for divorce in 2012, a seven percent increase from the year prior. Thirteen million couples married in China in 2012, representing an increase of 1.6 percent from 2011.

Divorce filings in China have surged recently due to married couples’ desire to avoid the country's new 20 percent capital gains tax. Because the tax only applies to second home sales, many couples reasoned that a divorce would enable them to claim that each had only one home and evade paying the tax.