Road crashes account for over three-quarters of all compensation payouts made in Ireland, according to the Injuries Board. 17.2% of awards were for accidents in public places, and 7.2% related to workplace accidents.
In a mid year review of claims made up to June of this year, the board says the average award has fallen slightly to just over €22,000.
General claims volume dropped by 1.3% in the eight months to August.
Longford, Limerick, Louth, Dublin and Clare are the five most litigious counties with the largest number of awards as a proportion of population. Kilkenny, Wicklow, Wexford, Carlow and Mayo have the lowest.
Overall, €144 million was paid out to personal injuries claimants in the first six months of the year - an increase of 22%.
That increase was largely due to "a natural time lag between the spike in claims over recent years and the resolution of those claims," the board says.
But it adds that the increase in new claims has now begun to level off.
The Injuries Board CEO, Patricia Byron said: "We've seen a decade of solid progress whereby 70% of PI claims are no longer litigated and only 2% of PI claims ever go to court."
"There has also been a cultural revolution, of sorts, with almost all insurers targeting early resolution of PI claims through their own offices and/or using the services of the Injuries Board."
"Claims are resolved four times faster and at a fraction of the processing cost, to deliver over €1bn in savings and facilitating a 40% reduction in motor insurance premiums."
"Despite this progress, there are tell-tale signs of unresolved issues, one of which is the absence of data on unsupervised settlements," she added.
The board warns that up to 15,000 cases reported to insurance companies each year never materialise, but are provided for in insurance company reserves before being written down.
And of the estimated 45,000 claims that do materialise each year, 40% (18,000) are settled upfront directly between claimants and insurers - without recourse to the Injuries Board or the courts.
