Pedestrians, beware: The threat posed by cellphone distraction is growing.

The number of pedestrians killed on US roadways last year is estimated to have spiked by about 11 percent, according to new projections. In Massachusetts, the increase was more than 8 percent.

The numbers are in a report released Thursday by the Governors Highway Safety Association, which largely blames the trend on more people hitting the road as the economy has improved in recent years and on drivers and walkers losing focus while transfixed by their phones.

Massachusetts highway safety director Jeff Larason agreed that distraction has become a serious problem and something state officials have taken steps to address, including through traffic enforcement and public awareness campaigns.

“People, when they are distracted, there’s a period of time when they look back up onto the road, the situational awareness isn’t there immediately, and it takes time for people to recover, and pedestrians and cyclists tend to be the last thing they see,’’ Larason said. “And pedestrians are not paying as much attention.’’

The new report estimated that there were about 6,000 pedestrian fatalities nationwide in 2016, up from nearly 5,400 in 2015 and from a recent low point, 2009, when there were about 4,100 such deaths.

The association said that the 2015-to-2016 jump was the steepest year-to-year increase since record keeping began about four decades ago, and that pedestrian deaths have risen at a faster rate in recent years than overall traffic deaths.

The total for 2016 was based on preliminary data collected about the number of pedestrian­ fatalities during the first six months of that year. The association said it also­ considered historical trends in making its projection.

The data showed that during the first half of 2016 there were 38 pedestrian fatalities in Massachusetts, up from 35 in the same period of 2015.

Elsewhere in New England: There were 28 pedestrian deaths in the first half of 2016 in Connecticut, up from 21; New Hampshire had eight, up from two; Rhode Island had seven, up from two; Vermont had four, up from zero; and Maine had five, the same total it saw in the first half of 2015, the report said.

Even with the slight increase, Massachusetts still sees relatively few pedestrian deaths per resident when compared with other states.

There were 0.56 pedestrian deaths per 100,000 residents statewide during the first six months of 2016, which was the 14th lowest rate nationally.

The rise in pedestrian deaths comes as the country as a whole — and Massachusetts specifically — has seen a rise in overall traffic fatalities.

The increase in deaths from motor vehicle crashes has also been blamed in part on improving economic conditions that lead to people logging more miles and to distracted driving.

Matt Rocheleau can be reached at matthew.rocheleau@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @mrochele.