Surprising figures from Eurostat have emerged suggesting that Amsterdam has one of the highest per capita number of murders and other unnatural deaths amongst European capitals.

Amsterdam ranks in 4th place out of 28 capitals, with 3,65 murders per 100.000 inhabitants, behind Vilnius, Tallinn and another shock candidate, Luxembourg.

Most crime in Amsterdam is not as severe, with Dutch police busy tackling driving offences, public disorder and minor robbery.

In addition, the Netherlands as a whole was placed on a more comforting 22nd position when compared to murder-rates in the other 27 European countries.

The total murder count for 2009 in the Netherlands was 179, a rate of just 1,05 murders per 100.000 inhabitants.

The good news is that Amsterdam's spike in murder-rates does not represent a national, or permanent trend. The total number of murders in Amsterdam in 2009 was 29, this has fallen to 16 in 2011.