Dutch households lost a ‘significant amount’ on their stock market investments in the second quarter of 2022, the central bank (DNB) said on Thursday.

Some 1.9 million of the Netherlands’ 8.1 million households invest in securities (stocks, investment fund units and bonds), according to national statistics agency CBS, with investments totalling some €159 billion.

The central bank says household investment volume fell by €6.7 billion in the second quarter of the year, driven by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, inflation and rising interest rates.

The 11% decline is the second largest in value since the central bank started tracking household equity holdings in 2009. The loss reached €2.9 billion in the first quarter.

The biggest drop in value was down to the decline in tech shares.

In addition, the value of investments in Shell, the company most heavily invested in by Dutch households, decreased by 4.7% to €5 billion as a result of net sales amounting to €260 million, the central bank said.