After several years of gentle decline, divorce enjoyed a comeback in 2016, new figures have revealed.

According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the rate of divorce rose by 5.8pc last year, compared to 2015, marking the first increase since 2010. Among the headline details, of the 106,959 divorces filed last year, the average age of divorcees rose to 46 for men and 44 for women, and the average duration of marriages ending in divorce was 12 years.

Perhaps most interestingly, though, is the fact that the number of men asking for divorces has increased once again, up to 39% (41,669) of all splits. It is a continuation of a steady rise since the early 1990s, when the proportion was just 27%.

But why might that be?