How many diamond wedding couples are there?

In 2020, 13.9 thousand couples celebrated their 60th (diamond) wedding anniversary. 327 couples had a platinum anniversary after 70 years of marriage and nearly 56 thousand couples attained the status of golden couple after 50 years of marriage. Given the high numbers of marriages in the 1960s and 1970s and increased life expectancy, there are more and more couples with long-term marriages.

The number of ruby or emerald (40 years), silver (25 years) and copper (12.5 years) weddings is actually decreasing. There were fewer marriages and more divorces.

Many weddings in the 1960s and 1970s

The 1960s and 1970s saw a relatively high number of marriages, peaking at almost 124 thousand in 1970. This is reflected in the increase in wedding anniversaries of 50 years and over. In recent decades, however, fewer people have married, which means there are also fewer silver and copper weddings to celebrate. About 64 thousand couples have tied the knot annually in recent years, almost half as many as in 1970. The year 2020 was an exception; only 50 thousand weddings took place because of the coronavirus crisis.

Show datatableMarriages (x 1,000)Hide datatableMarriages (x 1,000)

Marriages (x 1,000)

Jaar	Marriages
1950	83.1
1951	90.2
1952	87.4
1953	85.7
1954	88.1
1955	89.0
1956	92.3
1957	93.6
1958	91.5
1959	88.0
1960	89.1
1961	92.6
1962	93.1
1963	95.4
1964	102.9
1965	108.5
1966	111.9
1967	115.1
1968	117.5
1969	117.4
1970	123.6
1971	122.4
1972	117.5
1973	107.6
1974	109.6
1975	100.1
1976	97.0
1977	93.3
1978	89.1
1979	85.6
1980	90.2
1981	85.6
1982	83.5
1983	78.5
1984	81.7
1985	82.7
1986	87.3
1987	87.4
1988	87.8
1989	90.2
1990	95.6
1991	94.9
1992	93.6
1993	88.3
1994	83.0
1995	81.5
1996	85.1
1997	85.1
1998	87.0
1999	89.4
2000	88.1
2001	82.1
2002	85.8
2003	80.4
2004	73.4
2005	72.3
2006	72.4
2007	72.5
2008	75.4
2009	73.5
2010	75.4
2011	71.6
2012	70.3
2013	64.5
2014	65.3
2015	64.3
2016	65.2
2017	64.4
2018	64.3
2019	63.6
2020	50.2

Living longer

The increase in the number of golden marriages is not only a reflection of the higher number of marriages. The percentage of marriages that are still standing after 50 years has also risen. At the beginning of 2001 there were more than 23 thousand 50‑year marriages, which is 28 percent of the number entered into in 1950. Of the couples who married in 1970, 45 percent were still together at the beginning of 2021. This is mainly because people are living longer. Moreover, since 1990, the life expectancy of men, who are generally a little older than their wives and die a little earlier, has risen faster than that of women. This has increased the chance of both spouses still being alive after 50 or 60 years of marriage.

Show datatableMarriage dissolutions (per thousand couples)Hide datatableMarriage dissolutions (per thousand couples)

Marriage dissolutions (per thousand couples)

Jaar	Death	Divorce
1950	15.6	3.0
1951	15.7	2.8
1952	15.5	2.6
1953	16.1	2.4
1954	15.8	2.4
1955	16.0	2.3
1956	16.4	2.3
1957	15.9	2.2
1958	15.9	2.1
1959	16.0	2.2
1960	16.2	2.2
1961	16.4	2.2
1962	17.0	2.2
1963	17.2	2.2
1964	16.9	2.3
1965	17.4	2.2
1966	17.3	2.4
1967	17.2	2.6
1968	17.5	2.7
1969	17.7	3.0
1970	17.7	3.3
1971	17.3	3.6
1972	17.6	4.6
1973	16.8	5.5
1974	16.5	5.8
1975	17.0	6.0
1976	16.7	6.2
1977	16.2	6.3
1978	16.5	6.5
1979	16.2	7.0
1980	16.3	7.5
1981	16.3	8.3
1982	16.4	9.0
1983	16.3	9.4
1984	16.4	9.9
1985	16.7	9.9
1986	16.9	8.7
1987	16.4	8.1
1988	16.4	8.1
1989	16.7	8.1
1990	16.4	8.1
1991	16.4	8.1
1992	16.3	8.6
1993	17.0	8.6
1994	16.5	10.2
1995	16.5	9.7
1996	16.8	9.9
1997	16.4	9.6
1998	16.5	9.2
1999	16.6	9.5
2000	16.6	9.8
2001	16.5	10.5
2002	16.6	9.4
2003	16.5	8.9
2004	16.1	8.9
2005	16.1	9.1
2006	15.9	9.1
2007	15.8	9.2
2008	15.9	9.3
2009	15.9	8.9
2010	16.2	9.5
2011	16.1	9.5
2012	16.6	9.7
2013	16.7	9.9
2014	16.5	10.4
2015	17.3	10.1
2016	17.5	9.9
2017	17.5	9.7
2018	18.0	9.2
2019	17.9	8.9

Divorce

At between 55 and 60 percent, the percentage of marriages that are still intact after 40 years has remained fairly stable over the past two decades. The share of couples completing 25 years of marriage has fallen from 73 percent in 2001 to 62 percent in 2017 and has remained fairly stable since then. This is mainly due to divorces. Since the early 1970s, the number of divorces has risen sharply. In 1971, the divorce rate was 12 percent; ten years later, more than twice as many marriages ended in divorce (26 percent). In 2019, the divorce rate was 37 percent.

The questions

1. How are figures calculated by CBS?
2. How many dwellings in the Netherlands?
3. How fast is the Dutch population growing?
4. How tall are Dutch people?
5. How many farm animals are there in the Netherlands?
6. Which jobs often cause a poor work-life balance?
7. How many diamond wedding couples are there?
8. How much energy is from renewable sources?
9. How many people fall victim to domestic violence?
10. How many people use the Internet of Things?
11. What are the major religions?
12. What are the most popular majors?
13. What do people die of on an average day?
14. How much water do we consume?
15. What do we buy online?
16. How are the various animal species doing?
17. How many under-23s receive youth assistance?
18. Which flower bulbs are most common?
19. How many companies in the Netherlands?
20. Where do Caribbean Dutch children live?
21. How do we use our land?
22. How many electric cars are driving around?
23. Which jobs have the highest levels of mental fatigue?
24. How much nitrogen is emitted at livestock farms?
25. How many workers belong to a trade union?
26. How much have food prices gone up?
27. Where were people in the Caribbean Netherlands originally born?
28. How many families are at risk of poverty?
29. How sustainable is our behaviour?
30. What do we import from China?
31. How many girls become teenage mothers?
32. Has our purchasing power gone up or down?
33. How many adults smoke?
34. How many millionaires in the Netherlands?
35. How many tourists stay overnight in the Netherlands?
36. How does CBS handle your privacy?