Almost two million adults in the Netherlands owe the government money, be it tax, a traffic fine or student debt, the AD reported on Friday, quoting figures from national statistics agency CBS.

While the number of debtors has dropped, now accounting for one in eight of the adult population, the debts are increasing and becoming more difficult to deal with, the AD said.

For example, the average tax debt has risen from €647 in 2022 to €920 at the beginning of this year. The amount owed in wrongly paid social security benefits has also risen.

Arjan Vliegenthart, director of the family spending institute Nibud, told the AD that the only solution is to cancel some of the debts. This, he said, people who are the most entrenched in debt cannot be helped and need to start over again with a clean sheet.

An experiment to help 40 very low income families in Arnhem out of debt ran into trouble last year because few people are willing to take part, the AD reported in September.

The two-year trial was launched in April in an effort to “break the toxic spiral of poverty”, with city officials saying in the long run it would be cheaper to take over the debt of 40 to 60 families.

The money, some €700,000, is a gift from private associations. During the year-long preparations, the council found major creditors, such as energy firms and health insurers, were all prepared to lower the outstanding amounts in exchange for a lump sum.

However, finding families is proving extremely difficult. City social affairs chief Mark Lauriks told the AD officials were often unable to make contact with people. “They kept their curtains shut,” he said.

“That is how much people in this neighbourhood mistrust government. They are frightened that we are going to slap on new conditions, or ask they to pay it back.”