The number of divorces involving at least one Shanghainese partner dropped last year for the first time in five years, the city's civil affairs authorities revealed in a report today.

But the total number of divorces, 52,871, remained high even though it dropped 12.5 percent from 2013, the Shanghai Civil Affairs Bureau said.

Incompatibility, financial difficulties, extramarital affairs, geographic distance, family disputes, sex and differences in opinion about children’s education were among the main reasons for splitting up, said Chen Zhanbiao, director of the marriage registration division of the bureau.