There were more than nine million people doing some form of paid work in the Netherlands at the end of 2019, according to new figures from the national statistics agency CBS.

This is the first time so many people in the Netherlands have had a job, the CBS said. The population of the Netherlands currently stands at 17.4 million.

The size of the working population has been rising steadily since the end of the economic crisis in 2014. In total, 69% of the total working population now have a job, the highest rate in 50 years.

The percentage of women in work has also been rising steadily. In 1969 just 34% of women of working age had a paid job, but that has now gone up to 64%. Most, however, continue to work part time.