The UK: A Bicycle Importer
As in other parts of Europe, many bikes sold in the UK are now imported from overseas, particularly from manufacturers based in Asia. The UK is also an important bicycle export market for the EU, with nearly a quarter of bicycles and an even larger share of e-bikes shipped to the UK. Trade has been heavily impacted by Brexit, and bicycles that could previously be imported from the EU without import duty are now subject to a 14 percent tariff if less than 70 percent of their parts are manufactured in the UK.The UK has retained some bike manufacturing capacity. With companies gradually placing higher value on shorter business to consumer (B2C) distances coupled with global supply chain slowdowns, shortages, and higher taxes, more UK bicycle manufacturers may consider onshoring some of their production. However, the value of bicycle imports to the UK, totaling 375 million pound sterling, is about five times higher than its bicycle export value.
A Cycling Country?
When the COVID-19 pandemic led to lockdowns in 2020 and 2021, many people in the UK turned to cycling for exercise and a socially distanced transport alternative to public transportation. Sales rose by 11 percent year-on-year in 2020 and by another 12 percent in 2021, reaching a total of 3.25 million new bikes sold that year. Consumers were not only faced with a shortage of bikes during this period, but also reduced availability, long delivery times, and increased prices—the consumer price index for bike purchases, which includes motorcycles, rose by 21 percent in 2022 compared to pre-pandemic prices in 2019.Despite an increased interest in bicycles, cycling is less normalized in the UK than in other European countries. According to an Ipsos survey, around a fifth of the population rides a bike once a week or more often, and six percent uses their bike as their primary mode of transport for short journeys. Meanwhile, the respective figures for Germany are 43 and 21 percent. A key barrier to cycling that is often cited in surveys is feeling unsafe in traffic and a lack of safe cycling infrastructure. The UK also reports a lower level of favorability toward bicycles than many of its European counterparts. Only 64 percent of people in the UK hold a positive view of bicycles, compared to 93 percent in Poland and between 80 and 90 percent in the Netherlands, Turkey, Sweden, Italy, and Germany. Despite these social and physical barriers to cycling, revenue from bicycle sales is expected to grow in the coming years and reach a value of nearly 2 billion US dollars in 2027.
