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About 1.85 million couples got divorced during the first half of 2017.
The divorce rate in the country has been on the rise since 2002 when it was 0.90 permillage. The number surged over 2 per thousand in 2010, and reached 2.8 permillage in 2015, more than tripling that of 2002.
The divorce rate is defined as the number of divorces per year divided by the total population.
Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen are the top three cities with the highest divorce rate in China, with Guangzhou, Xiamen, Taipei, Hong Kong, Dalian, Hangzhou and Harbin rounding out the top 10, 21st Century Business Herald reported, citing data from the Ministry of Civil Affairs.
The number of divorces in the first half of 2017 is up 10.7 percent from the same period of the previous year. On the other hand, 5.58 million pairs, down 7.5 percent from 2016, got married during the same time.
The No.1 initiator of divorce appears to be infidelity, followed by domestic violence and personality difference, according to the report.
Other factors include a hostile relationship between wives and their mothers-in-law and disagreements over property purchase. Some Chinese couples even take divorce as a way to evade tax in buying the family's second house.
The data reveals that men working in IT sector are most likely to cheat on their spouses, followed by finance and education industry.
As for women, housewives, teachers, and doctors run a higher risk of breaking their vows. Sixty-seven percent of unfaithful wives are housewives.
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