Recovery incoming? UK bike sales expected to reach £1 billion in 2024.
Posted on in Business News , Cycles News
New data from market research firm Mintel suggests the UK bicycle market could on the road to recovery, with sales of new bikes set to reach almost £1 billion this year.
Mintel forecasts new bicycle sales will climb 12% in 2024, with Britons set to buy 2.1 million bikes.
Last year, bike sales fell by 11% to an estimated 1.9 million, down 42% from a record high in 2020 of 3.3 million, according to Mintel.
However, 2024 looks set to be more prosperous for the UK bike industry, particularly thanks to the rising popularity of electric bikes.
The cost-of-living crisis has had varying impacts on the cycling industry.
Mintel’s leisure research category director Paul Davies says: “Rising living costs have severely impacted demand for new bikes and ebikes, which had already been suffering due to COVID-19 related supply-side issues.”
Despite the decrease in sales, Mintel says the increased cost of living has also spurred an uptake in cycling. Mintel says 34% of Britons are cycling more than they did a year ago to reduce spending on fuel or public transport.
Mintel says it is only now inflation has begun to ease and there have been signs of wage growth that recovery in demand for new bikes is under way.
Mintel previously revealed electric bike sales accounted for 23% of bicycle sales in the UK in 2020.
Based on a survey of 2,000 people, Mintel predicts electric bikes will be the most popular type of bike cyclists plan to buy in 2024, even if they account for a slightly smaller proportion of the market.
“Nearly a fifth (19%) of those who plan to purchase a bicycle for themselves in the next 12 months plan to buy an ebike,” Mintel says.
Mintel has also found 49% of current and potential cyclists agree they are more likely to buy a second-hand bike than a year ago.
Mintel says the increase in cycling during the Covid-19 pandemic has “done nothing to narrow the long-standing gender imbalance in participation” in cycling, with 41% of men currently cycling compared to 22% of women.
However, there is now notable interest in cycling among women aged 16 to 64 years old. Interest peaks at just over 40% among women under 45 but is also high among 45 to 64 years old at 34%, according to Mintel.