The Dutch developed more trust in both institutions and each other over the past year but the church remains bottom of the list, the national statistics office CBS said on Monday.

The police are held in highest regard, with 74.5% of the population saying they trust the men and women in blue.  That is a rise of over four percentage points on 2016.

The legal system is second on the CBS ranking, with just under 73% support, followed some distance behind by the armed forces.

Some 62.2% of the Dutch also report trusting their peers, a rise of 2.3% on 2016. But the biggest rise in trust is the EU – up just over seven percentage points to 43.1%.

Youngsters and people with university or college degrees are more likely to trust both institutions and their fellow man, the CBS said.

There are also strong regional differences. In eastern Groningen province in the far north, just 46% say they trust their fellow Dutchmen and women. But in Zwolle, this soars to 72%.