E-bike sales overtake classic bikes in Germany

Around 2.1 million electric bikes were sold in Germany in 2023, exceeding the number of bikes without an electric motor (1.9 million) for the first time. With further growth, the number of e-bikes has also reached a new record level.

With almost four million bicycles with and without electric motors, the two-wheeler industry has defied the general negative consumer climate – even though e-bikes in particular are usually a significant investment. And as the industry association ZIV states in its press release, sales in 2023 have reached a level “comparable to the bicycle boom year 2020”. In 2023, the number of bicycles in Germany grew to a record 84 million (2022: 82.8 million), of which around 11 million were e-bikes.

E-bikes have now taken over the majority: in 2022, they already accounted for 48 per cent of all bicycle sales in Germany, but with 53 per cent in 2023, they are the largest category for the first time. “Bicycles and e-bikes are very popular with consumers despite the economic situation,” says ZIV Managing Director Burkhard Stork. He also points to the high proportion of specialist retailers at 77 per cent.

The value of bicycles and e-bikes sold in Germany in 2023 totalled €7.06 billion, compared to €7.36 billion in the previous year. In 2019, before the coronavirus crisis, it was only four billion euros. The booming e-bikes also played their part in the increased value: conventional bikes changed hands for an average of 470 euros. E-bikes, on the other hand, cost an average of €2,950, more than six times as much.

Not only sales, but also domestic production has developed favourably. However, the all-time high of 2022 was not reached, but the ZIV states that production has “stabilised at a very good level” with 2.3 million bicycles and e-bikes – roughly the same level as in 2020. If you include contract manufacturing by German companies abroad, the German bicycle industry produced 3.0 million bicycles and e-bikes last year.

According to the association, the popularity of bicycles and e-bikes will continue. “The market data we have published clearly shows that people in Germany attach great importance to cycling and the associated products in everyday life and for leisure,” says Stork. “Politicians should continue to flank this trend with appropriate measures.”

ziv-zweirad.de (in German)