Berlin - German marriages are lasting longer and the number of divorces is falling, but the proportion of marriages ending in a split is still around a third, according to official figures released Thursday.

The average marriage now lasts 13.9 years, on the basis of 2007 data, up from 13.7 years in 2006 and considerably longer than the 11.5 years recorded in 1990.

The number of divorces has been falling slowly but steadily for the past three years, reaching 187,072 in 2007. In 2003, there were 214,000 divorces.

The statistics are skewed, however, by the fact that fewer marriages are being contracted - 368,922 in 2007. Over the past 15 years, the number of marriages has fallen a full
20 per cent.

Many are divorcing after comparatively long marriages, when the children have reached adult age. Only around half the divorces in 2007 involved children under the age of 18. (dpa)