The number of breeding females on mink fur farms has decreased by over 100,000 in 2016, taking the total number of mink to 919,000. This 10% decrease marks the first time since 2012 that the number was under one million, according to the national statistics office CBS.

The Netherlands introduced a ban on fur farming in 2013 which includes an 11-year changeover period. However, the ban is at the centre of a complicated court case and is currently being considered by the Supreme Court.

The highest number of breeding females are in Noord-Brabant, the CBS said. This province also contains the ‘mink capital’ of the Netherlands: The town of Gemert-Bakel has 221,000 breeding females.

The Netherlands has some 160 fur farms producing five million pelts a year. The sector employs some 1,400 people and the Netherlands is the third biggest fur farming nation in the world behind Denmark and China.