The number of high earning households in Amsterdam is increasing at the expense of people on average salaries, according to new city council research.

They accounted for 12.4% of the city’s population in 2012, compared with 7% in 2001, the figures show.

By contrast, around one in five Amsterdammers has a very low income, a percentage which remains unchanged from 2001.

The average Amsterdam household had €31,400 a year to spend in 2012, just over €3,000 below the national average, the research shows.

The figures also show some 29% of the city’s housing stock is privately owned, compared with 15% in 2001.