The number of murders in the Netherlands has gone up for the second year in a row, with the biggest increases among young men and older women, latest figures show.

Rotterdam overtook Amsterdam as the city with the highest number of homicides for the first time since 2008, with 16 killings in the port city compared to 10 in the capital.

The figures from the statistics agency CBS also showed that in six out of 10 murders of women, the suspected killer was a current or former partner, including 75% of cases where the victim was under 60.

Altogether 142 murders were recorded in 2022, up from 126 the previous year and 121 in 2020.

The total number is still well below the levels of 20 years ago, when 247 victims were recorded. The downward trend ended in 2016, when the total number was 108.

Men are more likely to be both victims and perpetrators, according to the CBS figures. Of the 94 male victims, 40 were aged between 20 and 40 – up from 30 in 2021, while 19 women in the same age group were killed, up from 16 the previous year.

In the over-60 age group the numbers were almost equal, with 14 men and 13 women being murdered. The previous year 16 men and seven women over 60 were victims of homicide.

The CBS also said that police identified a suspect in 99% of murders of women. In 60% of cases between 2018 and 2022 the suspected killer was a partner or ex-partner, while one in five was believed to have been killed by a family member. Women were relatively more likely to be murdered in their own homes.

Men were more likely to be murdered by acquaintances or because of their links to the criminal underworld, which accounted for 12% of killings. Just 4% were murdered by current or former partners, while in 15% of cases the killer was not identified.

In the last 20 years nine in 10 murders were committed by men, though the proportion of female suspects has increased in the last five years from 5% to 10%, the CBS found.

The figures were compiled on the basis of death certificates and case files from the prosecution service.