Foreign affairs ministry figures show some 3071 Dutch nationals ‘got into trouble’ abroad last year, of whom 2,100 served time in jail.

‘That number is a worrying although drug related crime is going down because of warnings [about penalties for drug smuggling abroad],’ a ministry spokesperson told the Telegraaf.

The number of people held for drug smuggling has dropped from 1679 to 971 in the last five years, the AD reported recently. Dutch prisoner numbers abroad are still relatively high compared to other European countries, however.

The ministry also counted 385 Dutch people who had died abroad and 137 who needed hospital treatment. In total 329 people lost their bank cards or had them stolen, or got into trouble because of insurance issues.

The foreign affairs ministry’s travel advice site was consulted 2.3 million times in 2017 and 700,000 contacts were logged with the 24 hour emergency centre.

The number of tourists getting into trouble abroad has remained about the same although comparison with former years is difficult because the ministry is using a new counting system, the spokesperson told the paper.

The ministry was called on to provide assistance to people affected by the attacks in London and Barcelona last year, a volcano eruption on Bali and hurricane Irma in the Caribbean.