Four out of every 10 adults in the Netherlands thinks the chance of a terrorist attack is high. But they put actually being a victim of such an attack lower, according to a 2016 study by national statistics office CBS published on Monday.

Nearly 70% of respondents said they have been concerned about a terrorist attack in the Netherlands and 16% said they had these fears frequently. Despite this only 4% of the adults felt they themselves would be a victim of an attack, and some 75% regarded this  chance as very small.

Nearly four out of 10 said they were alert to possible terrorist attacks on a daily basis. They noted suspicious people or behaviour such as displaying nervousness or people hanging around where they did not belong. They also noticed heavy rucksacks or suitcases or people who looked foreign.

Many respondents also said they are now more aware of their surroundings, and are particularly alert at big events, train stations, airports and shopping centres.

Fears of problems also spread to holidays with 7% saying they have eliminated Turkey as a holiday destination. The same number avoid big events in the Netherlands.

The research was carried out last year, before the recent spate of attacks in Britain but after the attack on Zaventem airport in Belgium which left 32 people dead.

Plans

There has not been a terrorist attack in the Netherlands since the 1980s, although several alleged jihadi cells with plans have been broken up.

In the 1970s and 1980s, some 30 people were killed in 70 terrorist incidents. The last attack, apart from the murder of Theo van Gogh, was the killing of two Australians by the IRA in Roermond in 1990.