The sale of electric bikes accounted for almost half the spending on bicycles last year, sector organisation Bovag said on Wednesday.

In total, 223,000 electric bikes were bought, generating €414m in turnover, Bovag said.

Last year people paid an average of €844 for a new bike, which is up 7% on 2013.

Bovag says the average cyclist now covers over 1,000 kilometres a year by bike, up 150 km on the start of the century. This has been boosted by the growing popularity of electric bikes, which make it easier to cycle long distances, Bovag points out.

In total, over one million new bikes were sold in the Netherlands last year, of which one in five had a small electric motor.

Government cycling experts are recommending the introduction of a 25 kph speed limit on Dutch bike lanes to curb the impact of electric ‘super’ bikes. Electric bikes with speeds of up to 40 kph are now on sale in the Netherlands and there are concerns about their impact on cyclist safety.