The number of people who ended up in hospital A&E departments with alcohol poisoning rose to 5,300 in 2012, over three times as many as in 2003.

Figures released on Tuesday by the special safety foundation VeiligheidNL show that the majority of them were men (63%) and under 24 years of age (60%).

Of the total, 44% were admitted to hospital.

Accidents

The figures also show that 15,000 people attended A&E departments because of alcohol-induced accidents, VeiligheidNL says. Most of these (54%) were accidents in the home, such as falling downstairs. One-third were traffic accidents.

The foundation says this figure is likely to be much higher because A&E departments do not always make a note of alcohol use when booking in patients.

The legal drinking age rose to 18 at the beginning of this year.