(12 June 2017) – This month, the bicycle celebrates its 200th birthday. 200 years later, Portugal is European Union’s main bicycle exporter, accounting for 15% of all bicycles exported in 2016. It is followed by Italy (14%) and the Netherlands (13%).
The UK is EU’s leading bicycle importer, with 18% of all EU bicycle imports going there last year.
92% of all bicycles exported by EU Member States went to other EU countries. The remaining 8% were exported to non-EU countries, in particular to Switzerland (15% of all bicycles exported outside the EU), the United States (11%), and Russia (7%).
42% of the bicycles imported by EU Member States came from outside the EU, mainly from Taiwan (24% of bicycles imported from non-EU countries), Cambodia (18%), Bangladesh (11%) and the Philippines (10%).