The rise in the Dutch station pension age means that more immigrants will enjoy a better pension, national statistics office CBS said on Friday.

To qualify for a full state pension, immigrants must have lived in the Netherlands for 50 years. So the increase in the pension age to 67 will give new arrivals more time to build up more rights, the statistics office points out.

in 2005, immigrants had on average built up rights to 75% of the Dutch state pension. Ten years later, that had increased to 77%, the CBS said.

There are wide differences in the pension rights earned by different immigrant groups. People from Suriname are likely to qualify for 91% of the Dutch state pension but more recent arrivals from Africa and the Middle East are only likely to get 65%.

The pension age is being increased in stages from 65 to 67. When the increase is fully implemented, an immigrant must have been in the country since the age of 17 to qualify for the same AOW as a native Dutch person who has never lived abroad.