The introduction of laws in 2014 to make it possible for transgenders to register if they are officially changing sex led to 770 registrations in 2015, the government’s social policy unit SCP said on Tuesday.

Between 2007 and 2014, when people had to undergo tough medical checks, an average of 80 people a year changed sex, the SCP said.

‘Most sex changes are administrative,’ spokeswoman Lisette Kuyper told Radio 1 news. ‘Some are people who have undergone a medical transition. Others want to have the legal side sorted out before they start on the medical process while others just want to be seen as the opposite sex without medical intervention.’

Since 1995, 1,960 Dutch nationals officially have a different sex to the one in their birth certificate.

The SCP research also shows transgenders are at an economic disadvantage. Over half have a low income, compared with 30% of the population at large and they also find it more difficult to get a job, Kuyper said.

Unemployment in turn excacerbates loneliness and other social disadvantages, Kuypers said. For example, transgenders are less likely to get married and half live alone, compared with 17% of the general population.