Some 84% of expats rate their quality of life in the Netherlands as good to great, according to a new survey by DutchNews.nl.

Just seven people in the poll of 1,300 rated their quality of life as poor, the survey, carried out online in mid-April, found.

DutchNews.nl readers were also asked what aspects of living in the Netherlands they found most difficult to get to grips with. Top of the list was the language, with 31%. This was followed by the tax system (23%) and health service (15%).

In addition, the survey also showed that the word ‘expat’ is increasingly out of favour among the international community. Just over one in five (22%) of the people who took part liked to describe themselves as ‘expats’. Almost 21% preferred to use their original nationality and a further 21% used the term ‘internationals’. Just 15 respondents said they were ‘allochtoon’.

‘This survey does not necessarily reflect the views of new arrivals to the Netherlands because at least half of our readers have been here for over five years,’ says DutchNews.nl editor Robin Pascoe.

‘But it does show that foreigners like living here and are, on the whole, well-settled. The international community is very much a part of Dutch society.’