Monthly Bike Imports Starting to Fall

Canberra, ACT

It appears that after two years of stratospheric bicycle imports, numbers are starting to fall back to earth.

Bicycle imports for August were slightly lower than most pre-Covid years and September imports were significantly lower.

In August, 117,864 bikes were imported. That’s the third lowest August total since 2009 and the two years that were lower, 2009 and 2019, were only a whisker beneath this year’s figure.

Meanwhile, imports for September are traditionally higher as importers start ramping up for the Christmas and summer selling seasons. In fact, for every year since 2009, September imports have been substantially higher than August – except for this year.

September 2022 imports fell to just 104,151 units. By comparison, last year the September total was 158,172 and in 2020 it was 151,737.

It seems clear the correction needed to address the post-Covid overshoot is underway. The contrast is even more stark when looking at children’s bicycles, which anecdotal evidence suggests is one of the most overstocked categories right now.

Just 27,251 children’s bikes were imported in September, compared to 66,589 children’s bikes last September. Overall, for the first quarter of this financial year (1st July to 30th September) only 85,811 children’s bikes have been imported, compared to 155,748 last year. That’s a drop of 45%.

By comparison, adult bikes have not fallen so steeply. For the first quarter of this financial year 220,443 adult bikes were imported, compared to 229,742 in 2021 and 291,112 in 2020.

Meanwhile, the average unit value of both adult and children’s bikes remains high compared to pre-Covid averages. The average value for August 2022 was $372.45 and for September 2022 was $352.09. This is including both adult and children’s bikes. Pre Covid, the figure was typically in the low $200s.

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