Over half of the 270,000 people suspected by the police of committing crimes last year lived in the same area as where the crime took place, according to new research by national statistics office CBS.

In total, 55% of suspects lived in the local authority area where the crime was committed, the CBS said. However, one in seven suspects had no official address in the Netherlands. This was particularly the case in the south and in border areas.

People in the The Hague are most likely to be the victim of a crime committed by a local, but in Amsterdam, outsiders are more likely to be to blame – 24% of suspects did not live in the Netherlands officially.

The CBS this is due to the ‘popularity’ of pick-pocketing by foreign gangs in the Dutch capital. Nine out of 10 pickpockets arrested in Amsterdam had no Dutch address.

In Roermond, Maastricht, Venlo and Roosendaal more than 20% of suspects had no address in the Netherlands while in Leeuwarden just 6% of suspects were not registered.