Insee Focus · February 2022 · n° 260

A historic drop in the number of marriages in 2020 due to the specific conditions imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic

In 2020, 154,600 marriages were celebrated in France, a historically low number due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The number of weddings has been declining for the past 20 years, but has dropped by almost a third between 2019 and 2020. The lockdown from mid-March to mid-May 2020 resulted in a halt in wedding celebrations. The specific conditions imposed during the pandemic, including a maximum number of guests during celebrations, impacted the following months until the second lockdown in November 2020.

As a result, a large number of weddings were cancelled or postponed, particularly for people under 55. The number of newlyweds aged 55 or over, although down significantly on 2019, has fallen much less than for younger people.

Couples have had to make choices: the weddings maintained were thus held more often in the municipalities where couples live, perhaps in connection with travel restrictions put in place at several times of the year. They also took place less often on Saturdays than usual, even if it remains the most popular day, as the limited number of guests allowed at the ceremonies may have made it less essential to hold weddings on a weekend.