The number of cars on Dutch roads soared by 180,000 to 9.4 million last year, with traffic jams becoming longer and more serious as a result, the AD said on Monday. 

Last year, 370,000 new cars were bought by the Dutch, and a further 254,000 vehicles were imported. Some 280,000 cars were exported and 164,000 cars went to demolition yards. That means the fleet grew by 180,585 cars – or enough to create a jam from Utrecht to the Dordogne, the paper said. 

The increase is almost double that in preceding years and could be down to a post-coronavirus catch-up and slow deliveries because of the shortage of microchips. 

The Netherlands, the paper said, has more cars per square kilometre than any other European country. 

“In particular the importance of cars is increasing outside the big cities,” said Chiel van Lent, from motoring organisation ANWB. “Services are disappearing and people are becoming more dependent on the car.”

The congestion rate – length x duration of jams – was 17% up on 2022 last year and 6% higher than in 2019 before coronavirus restricted commuting and other travel.