Source: Fietsberaad

The use of electric bicycles in the Netherlands is expected to continue rising significantly, with e-bikes projected to account for more than half of all cycling kilometres by 2030. This forecast is presented in the Mobility Report 2025, published at the end of November by the Knowledge Institute for Mobility Policy (KiM).

According to the report, the share of e-bikes in total cycling kilometres has increased from 8% in 2014 to 38% in 2023. Based on current policy measures, KiM anticipates this share will grow by a further 40% by 2030, reaching approximately 42.5% of all bicycle use within the next five years, and will continue to increase after.

In 2023, Dutch residents cycled a total of 17.9 billion kilometres domestically, representing a 7% increase compared with 2014. On average, individuals cycled 1,065 kilometres per year, a figure that has remained largely stable over the past decade. Within this overall stability, there has been a clear shift from conventional bicycles to e-bikes, with average annual e-bike use per person rising from 115 kilometres in 2014 to 405 kilometres in 2023, while kilometres travelled on regular bicycles declined from 950 to 660 over the same period.

The role of e-bikes in longer trips

E-bikes are also associated with longer trips. In 2023, the average journey length was 3.2 kilometres by regular bicycle, compared with 5.2 kilometres by e-bike. The difference was most prominent for education-related travel, where e-bike trips averaged 6.7 kilometres, more than twice the distance of trips made on conventional bicycles.

Cycling popularity by region, and its role in providing job accessibility

Geographically, Leiden recorded the highest bicycle modal share among the 24 largest Dutch municipalities, with cycling accounting for 50% of all trips. Among the four largest cities, Utrecht ranked highest, with more than 40% of trips made by bicycle. The highest shares of e-bike use were observed in Enschede (12%) and Zwolle (11%).

The report also notes improvements in job accessibility by bicycle. Since 2018, access to jobs by bicycle has increased by 13%, outperforming growth in accessibility by car and public transport. KiM expects these trends to continue, reinforcing the bicycle’s growing role in the Dutch mobility system, especially the e-bike.

The full Mobility Report 2025 is available via KiM.