In 2021, almost 13.5 million bicycles were produced in EU factories. Poland has a considerable share of it with production of almost 1.2 million items. Data from Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Commission, shows that the number of bicycles made in the European Union increased by 11% compared to 2020.

The highest number of produced bicycles was recorded in Portugal (2.9 million), Romania (2.5 million) and Italy (1.9 million). Germany is the next highest, with a production of 1.4 million bicycles, and Poland is the fifth. In terms of sold bicycles, Poland ranks fifth in the European Union. In 2021, 1.2 million bicycles were produced in the country.

The fewest bicycles were produced in 2021 in Belgium, Finland, Croatia and Denmark. In none of these countries did the number of produced bicycles exceed 50,000 per year. This may be surprising especially in the case of Belgium or Denmark, where cycling is very popular and part of the culture of these countries. For the acquisition of bicycles these countries rely most on imports.

And imports, as well as exports of bicycles, both electric and non-electric, have increased. In 2021, the EU exported bicycles worth €921 million (both electric and non-electric) to countries outside the EU. At the same time, it imported bicycles worth €1.896 billion. The number of non-electric exported bicycles increased by 16% in 2021 and imports by 17 %.

Eurostat data also shows that electric bicycles are growing in popularity. Compared to 2020, last year their exports outside the EU countries increased by 15% and imports by as much as 37%.

Arkadiusz Słomczyński