Last year, five people a day committed suicide in the Netherlands, taking the total to 1,854, the national statistics office CBS said on Monday.

The figure is the highest ever recorded and up 101 on 2012, the CBS said. The suicide rate has been rising steadily since 2007 and is now 25% higher than it was back then.

Some 50% of people who choose to end their lives are aged between 40 and 65 and men account for 70% of the total.

At around 10 suicides per 100,000 of the population, the suicide rate in the Netherlands is low compared with other European countries and remains below the OECD average.

The lowest suicide rate is in Greece and the highest in Hungary, the OECD figures show.