Number of marriages stable

the hague - The registered partnership increases in popularity. Last year, 15,700 of these commitments were closed, almost a quarter more than the previous year. The number of marriages has been stable for several years. Annually, 65,000 couples marry on average.

Of the nearly 81,000,000 pairs who made an official commitment last year, 19 percent voted for the registered partnership. Ten years earlier it was 9 percent, reports the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS).

The registered partnership established in the Netherlands in 1998. The partnerships are legally similar to marriage. Abroad, the registered partnership is not always recognized. This may be a reason why people with a migrant background choose less and more often for marriage. Of the couples with a Moroccan or Turkish background last year only chose 2 percent for a partnership.

The registered partnership is especially popular with gay people. Last year, 30 percent of the commitments between people of equal sex were a partnership.

In the big cities, relatively fewer times are preferred for a registered partnership than in smaller municipalities. This is partly due to the number of migrants in the big cities, according to Statistics Netherlands. Furthermore, the figures show that the partnership in the so-called bible belt has hardly ever been rooted. Not yet 10 percent of the commitments in heavily Christian municipalities were a partnership.

The number of marriages has only decreased in recent decades. In 1965, more than 108,000 were marrying in the wedding boat, even in 1970, over 123,000. Since then, there has been steadily getting married. In 2015 the Netherlands included 64,308 marriages, last year 65. 249.