Austrian Bikes Sales Top Billion-Dollar Milestone

Vienna, Austria

Bicycle sales in Austria topped €1 billion (A$1.467 billion) for the first time in 2021, as rising e-bike and cargo bikes sales negated a slight overall decline in the total number of units sold.

Sales totalled €1.03 billion, a 17% increase on the previous year and a three-fold increase compared to 2015.

Based on respective populations and current exchange rates, a similar level of bike uptake in Australia would equate to annual bikes sales of approximately A$4.5 billion. That compares to Australia’s total bike sales of $1.5 billion in 2020, according to We Ride Australia’s report The Australian Cycling Economy.

Much of that rise was driven by increased sales of e-bikes, which represented close to 50% of total bicycles sales – a 45% share of the total market and 55% for adult bikes.

Their higher prices meant e-bikes represented 73% of total value of bike sales, contributing €756 million (A$1,108 million) to the overall figure.

e-Cargo bike sales were also a large factor, reaching 2,200 for a 136% rise compared to 2020.
Austria continues to have the highest proportion of e-bikes sales – relative to total bikes sold – in the so-called DA-CH region, which also comprises Germany and Switzerland.

A total of around 490,000 bikes were sold in Austria last year, a 1.2% fall attributed to supply constraints.

However, the average sale price rose by 18.4% to €2,095 (A$3,070) – €1,289 (A$1,889) for non-electric bicycles and €3,410 (A$4,999) for e-bikes.

Interestingly, while Austria’s market for racing bikes, gravel and cyclocross bikes grew by 38%, that still represented only 13,000 sales during 2021.