Despite efforts to encourage more people to use public transport, the number of cars, vans and lorries on the Dutch roads went up 1.7% last year, outstripping growth in the size of the population.

In total, the Netherlands is home to 7.6 million private cars and one million vehicles are registered to a company, according to new figures from national statistics agency CBS.

The Netherlands now has 543 private cars for every 1,000 people over the age of 18 up from 528 five years ago.

Car ownership is highest among the 50 to 65 age group, where 679 out of every 1,000 people has a car.

The biggest proportional rise has been in the number of people over the age of 80 with a car – 375 per 1,000 people, an increase of almost 50 on five years ago. By contrast, car ownership is just 172 per 1,000 among the under 25s.

The over-75s in the Netherlands have to undergo a medical check in order to extend their driving licence and in 2018, 650,000 people did so.