The number of traffic accident claims processed by Dutch insurance companies soared 8% to just over 900,000 last year, the Dutch insurers’ association VvV said on Thursday.

The rise in claims by private car drivers was even higher at 10%, taking the total to 625,000, the VvV said.

Insurers say economic growth has boosted road traffic and this is the main reason behind the increase. In addition, people drove more kilometres in their cars, the VvV said.

There was also a sharp increase in the number of collisions with wild animals reported to insurance companies.

Despite efforts to drastically reduce the number of deer and wild boar in the Netherlands, in 2016 drivers reported just under 8,000 accidents involving animals – a rise of 20% on 2015.