Dutch women aged between 25 and 30 earn more per hour than men, according to research by the national statistics office CBS.

The figures, from 2012, show young women had a gross hourly wage which was 0.7% higher than that of young men. The difference has stretched since 2011, when it was just 0.1%.

The difference is due to the fact women in this age group are more likely to have a degree than men, the CBS said.

However, once over the age of 30, men overtake women, with the difference stretching to 25% in the 50 to 55 age group.

The average difference is 18%, meaning women earn 82 cents for every euro earned by men. In 2008, the difference was 20%.

Gender gap

The new CBS figures are in line with a report published by PWC at the end of February, which said the difference in pay rates for men and women doing the same job in the Netherlands has reduced by three percentage points over the past three years.

Nevertheless, the gender-related income gap remains 17%, the research showed.

The improvement means the Netherlands has climbed from 17th to 12th place in the PWC Women in Work index. The index also takes part-time work and unemployment into account.