Between January and November the Netherlands received some 26,600 asylum seekers, including family members joining relatives, the national statistics office CBS reports on Thursday.

This is down 50% on the number of asylum seekers who entered the Netherlands in the same period of last year but up by 1,500 people compared to 2014.

In October and November of this year the number of people requesting asylum was around the 3,900 mark compared with 7,300 in November 2015.

The government said earlier this year it expected 58,000 refugees to come to the Netherlands in 2016.

The central refugee settlement agency COA has slashed jobs and closed temporary shelters because fewer refugees have arrived than forecast.