A growing number of Ukrainian refugees in the Netherlands have found work, latest figures by the statistics agency CBS show.

Nearly six in 10 (59%) were in paid employment last year, up from 55% in 2023 and 44% in 2022, the year of the Russian invasion. Altogether 92,000 Ukrainians of working age are living in the Netherlands as refugees.

Ukrainians are able to live and work on the same terms as EU citizens, without requiring work permits, under the EU’s temporary protection directive, which was recently extended to March 2026.

The CBS said the majority were working on temporary or flexible contracts, with 38% employed by temping agencies and another 24% hired as on-call workers.

Just over half were working full-time, defined as 35 hours a week or more, while another 15% were working between 30 and 35 hours. The proportion working on permanent contracts almost doubled from 5% to 9% in the last year.

Last week the right-wing Dutch government said it was working on a plan to encourage Ukrainians to return to their native country once the war ends.

Asylum minister Marjolein Faber said: “Hopefully the war in Ukraine will soon be over so that displaced people can go back home. And as long as displaced people are in the Netherlands, it is the cabinet’s intention that they do as much as they can, are self-sufficient and contribute towards the costs.”