A quarter of traditional bikes imported in the EU in 2021 came from Cambodia. Half of imported e-bikes were made in Taiwan. MIKE ZENARI

A quarter of traditional bikes imported in the EU in 2021 came from Cambodia. Half of imported e-bikes were made in Taiwan. MIKE ZENARI

After a slower production cycle due to lockdown in 2020, the EU produced 13.5m bicycles last year and exported 1.8m units, a year-on-year increase of 11%.

Portugal is the EU country that produces most bikes (2.9m), followed by Romania (2.5m), Italy (1.9m), Germany (1.4m) and Poland (1.2m), says European statistics bureau Eurostat in on 12 September. Luxembourg, however, does not produce any bikes, the institution reports. In total, the EU will have produced 11% more bikes than in 2020.

Of these bikes, the EU exported €921m worth of both electric and non-electric models to countries outside the EU. This also represents an increase compared to 2020, when 1.3m bikes were sold outside of the EU for a total of €471m. The UK in 2021 was the biggest buyer for EU bikes--buying 30% of traditional bikes and 27% of e-bikes--followed by Switzerland--38% of e-bikes and 21% of non-electrical models.

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Norway bought 13% of the EU’s electric bikes and the US 8%. Australia and Norway also bought 5% of the EU’s non-motorised bikes.

The EU’s demand for bikes grew as well, as close to 6.9m bikes were imported, mainly from Cambodia (28% of non-electric bikes), Taiwan for both electric (57%) and non-electric bikes (26%). This total import came up to €1.896m, compared to the 5 million bikes worth  €930m brought in from non-EU countries in 2020.