Australian Bicycle Imports Top 1.5 Million for the Second Time Ever

Canberra, ACT

A total of 1,534,544 bicycles were imported to Australia for the full 2021/22 financial year – only the second time imports have topped 1.5 million.

It first happened in 2020/21, when imports rose by 520,000 units on the previous year and hit an all-time record of 1,690,637 million units.

Of course, everyone knows the reason for this two-year boom and it’s still too early to say where the ‘post Covid’ level of bicycle imports will sit.

Strong anecdotal evidence from multiple sources suggests 1.53 million units was more than our market actually needed – especially towards the end of last financial year. There is now overstock of juvenile, family and low-end MTB bikes, resulting in widespread discounting. There is still short supply on many mid to high-end models, mainly due to an ongoing shortage of group sets – but lead times are coming down quickly.

The latest import figures, for the month of June 2022, suggest wholesalers were already starting to adjust to the slowing demand and looming overstock. Only 62,905 bikes were imported for the month, the lowest June total for five years. This compares to 99,554 in June 2020, when the Covid-induced scramble for bikes was well underway, and 98,146 bikes in June 2021.

Within the total for June 2022, kids’ bikes accounted for 20,722 units and adult bikes 42,183 units.

Although numbers were down, average unit value rose to record levels: $258.47 for kids bikes and $476.42 for adult bikes. These are FOB values before freight, taxes, wholesale and retail margins are added. Both of these figures are all-time records for any month.

Import data is collected by Australian Customs and collated by Bicycle Industries Australia (BIA) who kindly share the data with The Latz Report.