Albert Heijn will stop the sale of knives at its supermarkets from the end of this week because of “mounting aggression in society,” a company spokeswoman has confirmed.

A legal framework to ban minors from carrying knives is still in the pipeline and until then shops that sell knives, such as Ikea, Action, Hema and Xenos have pledged not to sell knives to the under-16s.

Knife-related crime among teens is on the rise. In 2022, some 67 knife-related incidents involving minors resulted in 10 deaths, an analysis of police figures by ANP showed.

Almost 50 incidents took place the year before, in which three people died. In the last four years a total of 228 stabbings involving under 16s were recorded, most of which took place in Rotterdam.

The supermarket did not say if the decision to ban all knives was related to the stabbing of one of its employees in June.