Over 86,000 bikes were reported stolen in 2024, up 1,000 compared to the year before, and 10,000 more than in 2022, according to new police figures.

Most bikes were stolen in the big cities. Amsterdam headed the list, with 11,000 people reporting the theft, almost twice as many as Rotterdam and The Hague (4,700) and Utrecht (3,900).

Renswoude and the Wadden island of Schiermonnikoog – where bikes are the main form of transport – were the only two places in the Netherlands without a single report of a bike being stolen.

In 2023, just 40% of people whose bike was stolen reported the theft, particularly if the bike was an ordinary city bike, statistics agency CBS said.  Police say the rise in reports is down to the increase in expensive electric bikes. “It may be due to the demand for these bikes and the professional methods used to steal them,” a spokesman told broadcaster NOS.

It is not clear if more people are reporting thefts or if thefts are on the increase, he said, but it remains important to report them. “We can then chart the theft hot spots and increase surveillance and investigate,” he said.

According to vehicle insurance crime bureau VbV, just 5% of all stolen bikes are retrieved and it estimates the annual damage runs to over €700 million. A popular places for thieves to strike are railway stations, but 35% to 40% of bikes are stolen from lock-ups like garages, sheds and offices.

People who own an electric bike in a big city can pay up to €50 a month to insure their bikes, with some types, such as cargo bikes, so popular with thieves that no company will insure them.

Very often these bikes, which cost an average of €5,000, will have no better security than a €500 city bike, a VbV spokesman said.