More weddings in first half of 2022 as couples catch up after Covid

Up to and including July, 40,500 couples got married in the Netherlands this year. That is significantly more than the number of marriages during the same period in the pandemic years and even more than pre-pandemic 2019, Statistics Netherlands reported.

From March 2020 to March 2022, there were periods of coronavirus restrictions, including lockdowns and limits to social gatherings. In the same period last year, 29,300 couples got married, and in 2020, 24,600. In pre-pandemic 2019, 35,900 couples got married in the first seven months.

The stats office attributes the increase partly to couples catching up on weddings postponed during the pandemic. But the special date in February - 22-02-2022 - also played a role. Relatively many couples got married in February at 4,100, with 1,200 saying “I do” on the 22nd of that month. Usually, an average of 2,800 couples get married in February.