More people have been leaving the central urban belt of the Netherlands know as the Randstad and moving to rural areas, national statistics agency CBS said on Friday.

Some 75,000 people left the Randstad area last year, while 53,000 people moved to the region, mainly to the cities of Amsterdam, The Hague, Utrecht and Rotterdam.

The number of people leaving the Randstad has been rising since 2014, with the total going up by 5,000 in 2021.

People in their 30s and older are most likely to leave, while youngsters come to the cities to study and for their careers, the CBS said. Working from home has also made it possible to move further away from the big cities and people with children are more likely to want more space and a garden.

The Veluwe health region and northern parts of Noord Holland province are among the most popular destinations, but Drenthe, southern Friesland and eastern Gelderland are also proving a draw, the CBS figures show.

Despite the exodus of locals, the population of the Randstad is increasing because more people from outside the Netherlands are moving in.