E-bike sales thrive throughout Europe’s main markets - except the UK

by Rebecca Morley May 9 2023

4 comments

Cowboy have started selling refurbished e-bikes after attaining B Corp status — Cowboy 4 ST riding.JPG, by Richard Peace

According to 2022 sales statistics, e-bike sales volumes increased by double digits in many European countries

Bike sales in 2022 were lower than 2021 throughout Europe's main markets, Bike Europe has reported, but e-bike sales continue to thrive - although the UK seems to be the exception.

According to 2022 sales statistics reported by national European industry organisations, e-bike sales volumes increased by double digits last year, replacing demand for mechanical bicycles.

The statistics also show the market growth is bigger in many European markets in 2022 than it was in 2021. Last year e-bike sales increased by 10% in Germany compared to 3% in 2021, by 11% in Austria compared to 9% in 2021, and by 14% in Italy compared to 5% in 2021.

The e-bike market did not pick up in the UK however. The number of e-bikes sold decreased by 3.1% last year to 155,000 units. Bike Europe also reports that e-bike market share in the UK is only 7.5%, which it says is "not enough" to create the right momentum for e-bike sales to take off.

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In its 2022 report, Riding out the Storm, the Bicycle Association (BA) reported that total UK mechanical bike volumes fell 22% to an estimated 1.88 million units in 2022. The organisation said that e-bikes have been ‘more stable’ but overall volumes have plateaued since 2020.

Simon Irons, BA market data service director, said: “The report shows areas where the UK bike market could recover, including sales of e-bikes which are far below European countries.

“Across Europe as a whole, rising e-bike sales are not only compensating for falling mechanical volumes, but are growing the overall market. With the right incentives in place in the UK, the e-bike market could grow here as well.”

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Author block

Rebecca Morley

Rebecca has been in cycling journalism since 2018. She started out at trade title BikeBiz and still contributes features to its monthly magazine, and was also named one of Cycling UK's 100 Women in Cycling 2019.

4 comments

BIRMINGHAMisaDUMP 1 year 5 months ago

I live in London and Paris and I have noticed an exponential growth of eBikes in Paris and also in London. Lots of eBikes are used to carry children to school. And I believe this should be encouraged more. Infrastructure is the key to this. Central London has some excellent cycle infrastructure - which is where I see lots of eBikes and children. Paris has the advantage of infrastructure that extends out from the centre too. With the correct incentives eBikes should be a major part of urban mobility. Storage is a problem though. They are big and they are valuable.

chrisonatrike 1 year 6 months ago

Wot Sriracha sed. You've gotta have somewhere you'd feel like riding.

To Sriracha's list of potential customers I'd add parents wanting to carry kids.

Thinking "I'll get a bike" is just less common in the UK currently. Ultimately it comes down to the political choice (lobbied for by the industries) to take the space and prioritise motor vehicles. There are of course lots of other things feeding into this e.g. generations of believing "best form of transport = private car" and designing our ameneties and public spaces around that.

Sriracha 1 year 6 months ago

I suspect that many would-be buyers of e-bikes are older or otherwise less ablebodied people who will still be put off by the lack of safe infrastructure in the UK.

eburtthebike 1 year 6 months ago

Maybe it's because the msm in the UK will not, under pain of death, actually mention ebikes?