Utrecht crowned most bicycle-friendly city in global ranking
Wolf-photography / Shutterstock.com
By Simone Jacobs
The Dutch city of Utrecht has been named the most bike-friendly city in the world in the 2025 Copenhagenize Index.
Copenhagenize Index 2025
Every year, the Copenhagenize Index ranks several global cities to determine which have made cycling the safest, most convenient, and most mainstream. The study is considered the “most comprehensive and holistic ranking of bicycle-friendly cities in the world”.
The 2025 edition of the ranking looks at 100 cities across 44 different countries, assessing them based on 13 indicators in three main categories:
- Safe and connected infrastructure: bicycle infrastructures, bicycle parking areas, traffic calming and safety.
- Usage and reach: bicycle modal share, modal share growth, women’s share of bicycle trips, bike share systems and cargo bikes
- Policy and support: political commitment, advocacy, image of the bicycle and urban planning.
In this year’s ranking, Utrecht took the number one spot as the most bicycle-friendly city in the world, with Copenhagen and Ghent rounding out the top three.
Four Dutch cities named among world’s best for cyclists
With more than 24 million bicycles in the Netherlands for around 18 million residents, it comes as no surprise that several Dutch cities have made it into top spots in a ranking on bike-friendliness. Utrecht was at the top of the list though, considered “the heart of Dutch cycling excellence”.
A third of all trips in Utrecht are made using a bicycle, a fact that the index attributes to “a connected cycling network, safe and calm streets, and a growing number of bicycle-priority corridors”. Other Dutch cities mentioned in the ranking’s top 30 include Amsterdam, The Hague and Rotterdam.
10 most bike-friendly cities in the world
In all, here are the world’s best cities for cyclists:
- Utrecht
- Copenhagen
- Ghent
- Amsterdam
- Paris
- Helsinki
- Münster
- Antwerp
- Bordeaux
- Nantes
For more information about the study or to see the full ranking, visit the Copenhagenize Index website.
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Editor for the Netherlands at IamExpat Media. Simone studied Genetics and Zoology at the University of Pretoria in South Africa before moving to the Netherlands, where she has been working as a writer and editor since 2022. One thing she loves more than creating content is consuming it, mainly by reading books by the dozen. Other than being a book dragon, she is also a nature lover and enjoys hiking and animal training. Read more