All-time low for number of weddings in Belgium

The number of weddings in Belgium was at an all-time low in 2012, reports La Dernière Heure. Responding to a parliamentary question, interior minister Joëlle Milquet confirmed that 91,566 people got married last year, a drop of 14% in five years. The number of legal cohabitants is stagnating; 78,034 in 2012 compared to 78,392 a year earlier. There  were 49,369 divorces in 2012 compared to 51,905 in 2011 - a decline partly explained by the economic crisis. "It can be argued that people decide to wait a little before divorcing because it is an expensive process," says Marie-Thérèse Casman, family sociologist at Liège university. Finally, the number of people putting an end to their status of legal cohabitants is rising: 34,079 in 2012 compared to 30,232 in 2011.