During the pandemic, bike sales boomed, but sales have since slowed. The Bicycle Association (BA) now claims that annual bike sales in the UK fell to 1. 88 million units in 2022, a 20-year low.
The member organization’s annual market awareness report for 2022, Riding the Storm and released today, indicates that non-electric motorcycle volumes fell by 22% in 2022, down 27% from before COVID-19 in 2019.
Sales of children’s motorcycles fell 28% from 2019 totals, falling to 700,000 units in 2022.
Gravel motorcycle volumes increased by 8% between 2022 and 2021 and 59% from 2019, but this is a rarefied sector of the market.
Sales of e-bikes, which in the past were considered the saviours of the global cycling market, have stagnated in the UK since 2020, reports Riding out the Storm.
The BA’s 61-page report looks at key points shaping the market, aggregating foreign comparisons between the UK and other markets. Sales in other key markets, such as the United States, were also below pre-pandemic levels.
“The [bike] market is facing a turbulent and challenging year,” said John Worthington of the BA report and head of research at the organisation.
“Once global sources and demands are better balanced and the economic environment improves, the long-term outlook for the cycling market will be positive,” he said, although he warned that “over the next 12 months, the industry will face a challenging period. “”. storm. “
Simon Irons, BA’s director of market data, added: “As an industry, we will need to rise to the challenge and do everything we can to make cycling an attractive mode of transport for more people in the UK. »
“The most worrisome thing,” Irons said, “is the drop in sales of children’s bikes. “
The report shows how the UK motorcycle market could recover, thanks to the promotion of more electric motorcycles, whose sales are much lower than those in the rest of Europe.
To fight falling sales, BA said it would like to “increase and focus on cycling’s role in the UK’s economic expansion and a net-zero emissions strategy with local investment,” and called on the national government to dedicate “multi-year investment to active travel. ” England and continued investment in cycling in Scotland and Wales.
Weathering the Storm: The UK Cycling Market Report 2022 integrates sales knowledge gathered through BA with broader knowledge sets, adding weather situations (bikes are like ice cream, they sell more depending on the weather) to the National Travel Survey.