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Findings from the European Cargo Bike Manufacturer Survey have been published, highlighting exponential growth in sales and jobs for the developing sector.
The anonymous online survey was conducted by industry associations Cycling Industries Europe and Zukunft Fahrrad, along with Sporting Insights, from Friday, May 5, to Sunday, June 11.
More than 40 survey respondents included 38 manufacturers from the EU and four from non-European countries.
Together, the survey respondents cover the whole range of cargo bikes for private and commercial use, with and without electric assist, with two, three or four and more wheels and from less than 160kg to more than 500kg total maximum weight.
For 2022, the 43 manufacturers together sold 112,429 cargo bikes in Europe, a 36.3% rise when compared with 2021.
The industry also saw 25.8% more employees (full-time equivalents) than in 2021.
Looking ahead to 2023, the 43 manufacturers expect to sell 120,630 cargo bikes in Europe.
This would be another growth of 7.3% with four of the companies expected to sell more than 10,000 cargo bikes in Europe in 2023 and 12 less than 100.
Just over half of the 43 manufacturers (22) name Germany as one of their three most important national markets in Europe. This is followed by France (18), Belgium (13) and the Netherlands (11).
The 43 manufacturers also pay keen interest to safety standards with more than three quarters aware of the emerging European EN standard for safety requirements and test procedures for cargo bikes, 30 of them will apply the EN standard in the future with another 11 considering it.
The survey also saw 25 cargo bike operators from the UK and EU participate, with the majority of the respondents (51%) involved in delivery services, using cargo bikes to transport goods, mail and food.
A minority of the operators indicated that their fleets were used to transport supply services and carry passengers.
Responses indicate that the mean number of employees for the current year is at 71 per company. This is an increase compared to 2022, where figures indicate that the mean at 69.
Total employees have also increased in the period from 1,507 in 2022 to 1,554 in 2023, suggesting overall growth.
Average revenue for participants of the 2023 survey is forecasted to reach €613,636 for 2023. This indicates a 63% increase in figures that were reported last year.
Consistent with the above, total number of kilometres are up with respondents reporting that the aggregate number of kilometres their fleets covered in 2022 was almost five million, with electrically assisted cargo bikes over 300 GVW making up the greatest share of these kilometres at 91% of the total.
