Amsterdam - The number of elderly people with an alcohol problem in the Netherlands is rising, according to a report released on Monday.

The report was prepared by the Dutch Stichting Informatie Verslavingszorg - a national addiction foundation - and the Trimbos Netherlands Institute for Mental Health and Addiction.

The number of people aged 55 and up who were registered at Dutch rehab clinics almost doubled from 3,154 in 1998 to 7,241 in 2008, the report of the Trimbos institute located in Utrecht in the central Netherlands said.

Rob Bovens, coordinator of the Trimbos institute, said the new findings revealed merely the "tip of the iceberg."

"We estimate that only 5 per cent of the people with an alcohol problem report themselves to us."

Bovens said the total number of Dutch elderly with an alcohol problem amounts some 150,000 people.

The Trimbos institute, which collects and reports data about alcohol and drug addiction in the Netherlands on an ongoing basis, says alcohol consumption in the Netherlands is increasing among all age groups.

However, the increase of people with an alcohol problem is sharpest among people aged 55 and older. Around 22 per cent of the Dutch alcoholics are aged 55 and up - compared with 14 per cent ten years ago.

The Trimbos report also said the increase of elderly women with an alcohol problem is bigger than that of elderly men. (dpa)