Last year 1,894 people committed suicide in the Netherlands, a slight rise of 23 on the previous year, the national statistics office CBS said on Wednesday.

Given the growth in the size of the population, the suicide rate remains 11 per 100,000 inhabitants, roughly in line with the European average.

However, there has been an increase in the number of people over the age of 60 killing themselves – the over-60s now account for one third of all suicides, the CBS said.

Men in the Netherlands are twice as likely as women to kill themselves, and divorce or the death of a partner are major risk factor.