Number of murders in Netherlands continues decreasing trend

As in previous years, the number of murders committed in the Netherlands decreased in 2016, according to figures Statistics Netherlands released on Friday. Last year a total of 110 people were killed by violence in the country, ten fewer than in 2015. The victims were 76 men and 34 women.

The number of murder victims halved since the start of this century, both in men and women.

Many of the victims had criminal records - of the 459 men killed since 2012, 109 had a criminal background. These murders were usually committed with a firearm, and almost all cases involved a settlement within the criminal world. In about 40 percent of these cases, the perpetrator or suspected perpetrator was identified.

Women are rarely killed in the criminal environment.

Amsterdam has the most murders in the Netherlands. Every year an average of 20 people are murdered in the Dutch capital. Rotterdam comes in second place with a average of around 12 murders a year.