Some six in 10 Europeans who come to the Netherlands to work, and seven in 10 from non-EU countries have left again within five years of arriving, according to new figures from national statistics agency CBS.

However, people with a partner and children are less likely to leave, especially so if their partner has a paid job, the CBS said.

The survey is based on people who arrived in the Netherlands between 2005 and 2016 when 225,000 EU nationals moved here and 75,000 people came from other countries on a work visa.

Poles accounted for 32% of the EU arrivals, followed by Germans (9%), British (8%), Italian (7%) and French (5%). Indian nationals accounted for 29% of the knowledge workers, followed by Americans, Chinese, Turks and Japanese.

Although most people who come to the Netherlands to work leave again, people with partners and children are increasingly likely to stay, particularly if they come from a non-EU country.

Over 70% of foreign workers without a partner had gone within five years, but just around 30% of those who came to the Netherlands between 2013 and 2016 and had children and a working partner left over the same period.

The survey also found people earning the lowest wages are the most likely to move back home or elsewhere.

The network of local authority “expat centres”, where new arrivals go for help with sorting out their paperwork, is making helping partners find a job a key part of their operations.

“We know from our counselling work that families feel more settled if both partners have a job. And this is something which companies are increasingly aware of, and trying to address,” said Deborah Valentine, director of expat volunteer organisation Access.