Last year 125 people were murdered in the Netherlands and men were twice as likely as women to be killed, according to a crime figure analysis by national statistics agency CBS.

More than half the female victims died at the hands of a partner or ex partner, the CBS said and the figure rose to 70% for women aged 20 to 60. A further 12.6% of female victims died at the hands of another relative and 7.5% were killed by a parent.

Men were most likely to be killed by someone they knew (30%) and just a handful were killed by a partner or ex.

In total 61 children were murdered between 2014 and 2023 and almost all were killed by a parent, often as part of a murder suicide.

The murder total in the Netherlands has been falling for decades and in 1996 was as high as 240. The 2023 total is down 18 on 2022 and around the average over the past 10 years, the CBS said.

Most murders took place in Rotterdam with 12, followed by Amsterdam on 10 and The Hague with nine.