More than a third of people in the Netherlands say they sometimes feel unsafe on the streets, national statistics office CBS said on Monday.

In 2005, some 50% of people questioned said they sometimes felt unsafe, a figure that had dropped steadily over the years but is now rising again.

Young women are by far the most likely to feel ill at ease. Nearly 60% of women aged 15 to 25 said they sometimes feel unsafe, more than twice the figure for young men of the same age. Older women are also increasingly likely to say they feel unsafe at times.

City residents are more likely to feel unsafe than those living in rural areas. In the centre of Amsterdam, including the red light district, almost six in 10 residents said they sometimes feel unsafe. In central Rotterdam the figure is 57% and in Utrecht city centre 54%.