Almost €700 million worth of bicycles were reported stolen in the Netherlands last year, up €230 million on 2021, according to figures from national statistics agency CBS.

In total, 980,000 bikes were taken, and e-bikes are increasingly in demand, the agency said.

While the average price of a stolen bike was around €350, the most expensive was worth €800, and that is a rise of €110 on two years ago. 

Insurance companies paid out €271 million to policyholders whose bikes were stolen last year, almost double the 2021 total. Just 13% of stolen bikes were covered or partially covered by insurance.

The ANWB, for example, told the Parool it almost only insures electric bikes, with an average value of around €2200. It no longer insurers the thick tyred fatbikes because so many are being stolen.