Coronavirus and its impact on commuting and tourism helped reduce the amount of kilometres travelled by vehicles registered in the Netherlands by almost 17% last year, national statistics agency CBS said on Monday.

In total, cars, vans and lorries covered almost 127 billion kilometres on Dutch and foreign roads in 2020, compared with 152 billion in 2019.

The distance covered by private cars, which account for almost four in five kilometres travelled, was down by 20% as commuters stayed home and the government urged people not to move around.

The biggest drop – 25% – was in the distance covered by buses and coaches, and that was largely due to tourism-related coach trips.

There was little impact on the distance travelled by lorries, while vans covered 4% fewer kilometres, the CBS said.