Number of registered partnerships grew further in 2010

Nearly 10 thousand partnerships were registered in 2010 versus more than 2 thousand in 2001. Since 2001, the number of registered partnerships has risen continually. More than one in ten couples who had their relationships legally sanctioned last year, opted for registered partnerships.

More partnerships, fewer marriages

Since 2001, the number of registered partnerships has increased almost fivefold, while the number of marriages is significantly lower than around the turn of the century. In 2010, more than 73 thousand couples got married, as many as in 2009 versus approximately 82 thousand couples in 2001.

Marriages and registered partnerships

Over-40s more often prefer partnership model

In 2009, couples living in registered partnerships were older than those who got married. Nearly one in three women who entered into a registered partnership were over the age of forty. More than one in five women who got married were in this age category.

Age of women at marriage or partnership registration, 2009

Amount of same-sex couples with registered partnerships stable

After introduction of the registered partnership model in 1998, same-sex couples, too, could legalise their relationship. In the first three years after the introduction in particular, many couples used the opportunity to have their relationship officially registered. Over the past decade, the number of registered homosexual couples has varied between 200 and 300. The amount of lesbian couples is in the same range.

Since 2001, same-sex marriages are officially recognised. In recent years, more lesbian than homosexual couples got married: nearly 800 versus 600 in 2010.

The number of homosexual and lesbian couples living together totalled 57 thousand in 2010. One in three couples had their relationships officially registered. Nearly 11 thousand couples were married and more than 6 thousand had registered partnerships.

Arie de Graaf