Dutch households look back on a strong investment year despite considerable turbulence in the financial markets. Overall, the value of household portfolio investments rose by 7.8% in 2025, according to new figures from DNB. This brought total investments to €204.3 billion at year-end.
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Earlier in the year, such growth – of nearly 8% – seemed unlikely. In March and April 2025, households saw substantial losses as tech stock prices fell and global markets reacted sharply to the announcement of US import tariffs.
However, markets recovered over the remainder of the year. Ultimately, more than 90% of the increase in household investment value stemmed from favourable price developments, with the remainder coming from net purchases. Exchange rate movements had a slightly negative effect.
At De Nederlandsche Bank, we independently compile statistics on the Dutch financial sector and economy. This article is based on these statistics. More information on our statistics and all dashboards can be found on our Statistics homepage.
Although stock prices increased in the final quarter, the total value of household investments remained virtually unchanged at €204.3 billion. This stability was the result of substantial sales of securities by households.
Listed shares were sold in particular. Household holdings decreased by 1.9% to €68.5 billion. Share price gains amounted to € 1,7 billion, but households sold €2.6 billion worth of shares at the same time. Bond holdings also dropped, reaching €5.2 billion, as many bonds matured and were not replaced by new purchases.
Investment in investment fund shares, the security type most popular among households, did increase by just over one per cent to €130.6 billion.
As in 2023 and 2024, households again sold more investments than they bought in the fourth quarter. These sales continue to be concentrated in December.
While in December 2022 and 2023 households withdrew notably from investment funds, the focus in 2024 and 2025 shifted to the sale of direct investments in listed shares. Since 2024, households have also been investing more in short‑term debt securities, which has similarly resulted in larger repayment flows.
January 2025 was the most popular month for purchases: net buying totalled €2.7 billion, more than two thirds of which consisted of investment fund shares. In December, households sold net €1.3 billion worth of listed shares, primarily in ASML, ING Group and Coöperatieve Rabobank. This also affected the ranking in the top 25 most popular shares among households: Shell has once again overtaken ASML in terms of total value.
The total securities holdings of Dutch households consisted of listed shares, investment fund shares and bonds totalling €204.3 billion at the end of 2025. By comparison, Dutch households keep far more funds in savings accounts with Dutch banks (€528.6 billion) than in investment portfolios. They also hold €109 billion in payment accounts with
Dutch banks. Added to this are substantial assets kept with pension funds and insurers, business assets of self-employed persons and home equity, which fall outside direct securities holdings.
According to figures from Statistics Netherlands (CBS), there are 8.4 million private households in the Netherlands. Of these, around a quarter (2.2 million) hold portfolio investments, according to research (in Dutch) conducted by the Dutch Authority for the Financial Markets (AFM).
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