More investment but less sales: European Bicycle Sector Report 2022

CONEBI, the European Confederation of the Bicycle Industry has just published its annual report for the year 2022 in which the market situation is analyzed.

Electric bicycles push the cycling industry

The bicycle industry slows down after the boost experienced with the end of the pandemic. This is the conclusion drawn from the European Bicycle Sector Report that CONEBI has just published.

The sales boom experienced by the bicycle sector after the pandemic has come to an end, with the market stabilizing from 17.1 million bikes sold in 2021 to 14.7 units in 2022. All this despite the boom in electric bicycles, which continue to grow and have undoubtedly moderated the loss of turnover over the past year.

In 2022, electric bicycles exceeded 5.5 million units sold contributing to the total €21.2 billion turnover, a figure 7.4% higher than in 2021 despite the fall in the number of units sold and corroborating the influence of rising prices, an inflationary situation from which the bicycle market has not been unaffected.

The accessories and components market also has a relevant weight in the results harvested by the sector, accounting for no less than 4.8 billion euros in turnover, a figure that increased by 1.2 billion with respect to that established in 2021.

According to the data collected in the report, the bicycle sector in Europe, which directly or indirectly employs some 180,000 workers, increased its investments by 14% over the previous year, reaching 2,000 million euros. These figures, despite the decrease in the number of sales, point to the good health of the bicycle sector. "The future of the industry remains bright," said Erhard Buchel, President of CONEBI, highlighting how the industry has overcome the effects of the pandemic and the resulting supply chain disruptions.