Decrease in marriage migration comes to an end

The decrease in the number of marriage migration came to an end in 2008. Just as in 2007, 8 percent of people in the Netherlands with a foreign background who married, did so with a partner who migrated from their own country of origin. Turks and Moroccans in particular showed a preference for marriage partners from their own country, both those who already lived here and those who immigrated especially for the purpose of marriage.

Non-western foreigners more likely to choose a partner with same ethnic background

Some 28 thousand people in the Netherlands with a foreign background got married in 2008. Nearly half of these foreigners had a western background, one quarter had a Turkish or Moroccan background. While seven out of ten people with a western foreign background married a native Dutch partner, six out often people with a non-western foreign background married a partner from their own country of origin.

Partners of people with a foreign background marrying in 2008

Share of migration marriages stabilised for Turks and Moroccans

Marriage with a partner from their own country of origin was especially popular among Moroccans and Turks. For years now, 80 percent of people in these population groups marry a partner from the same country of origin. Since 2004, when legislation concerning marriage immigration was tightened, fewer partners immigrated to the Netherlands from the countries concerned. In 2008, 20 percent of Turks, both men and women married a partner from Turkey. For Moroccans the share of immigration marriages is smaller, 16 percent for men and 11 percent for women.

Partners of Turks marrying in 2001-2008

Strongest decrease for second generation marriage migration

The percentage of migration marriages among Turks and Moroccans dropped most sharply for the second generation, although a large majority of them still married someone with the same country of origin. This was the case for both men and women.

Marriages of Turks and Moroccans with a native Dutch partner are relatively rare both in the first and in the second generation. The second generation, who are less bound by traditions, more often opt to cohabit. Turks and Moroccans who live together with a partner without being married are more likely to have a native Dutch partner.

Partners of Turks marrying in 2004 and 2008, by generation

Elma van Agtmaal-Wobma