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Globally, how many people practice on road bicyling, and what is the global market size for this sport?
Hello! Thanks for your question about the global on-road bicycling market. The short answer is that there are an estimated 580m households in the world with access to a bicycle, and the global bicycle market is worth between $33.8bn and $53.2bn.
Below you will find a deep dive of my findings.
METHODOLOGY
To answer this question I reviewed media resources as well as industry analysts in order to determine what different sources were saying and provide you with a range of answers. Because some of this data came from proprietary reports, I had to reverse calculate some of the figures, as described below.
In terms of the figures from Persistence Market Research, I needed to do some math to in order to calculate the 2016 market figures, by using the value of the hybrid market and it's share of the total market, and then calculating this out to the other bike types based on their percentages.
TOTAL NUMBER OF CYCLERS
In 2015, John Hopkins University conducted an academic study to assess global bicycle ownership and use, and they estimated that at least 580m households currently own a bicycle. The researchers were, however, unable to determine whether these bicycles were being used or how frequently. Depending on the exact needs of your research, the John Hopkins report may be worth investigating further for you, as it paints a detailed picture on a global scale.
In terms of actual use, after much investigation I was unable to find any global numbers. There is some information available on a country-by-country basis (for example Outdoor Magazine found that 38.3m Americans used a road bike in 2015); however, global statistics are unavailable due to limited data collection of this type in many countries.
GLOBAL MARKET SIZE
According to Paris-based NPD Group, the global market for all biking-related components (including bicycles, parts and accessories, repairs, and cycling apparel) was $47.4bn in 2014. Of this, 133.1m bicycles were sold, for a total value of $33.8bn.
Another market researcher, Persistence Market Research, estimated that the global bicycle market was $45.08bn at the end of 2015, with this estimated to reach $62.39bn by the end of 2024. In terms of 2016 figures, the hybrid bicycle segment was the largest, worth $17.9bn, followed by road ($11.72bn) and mountain ($11.25bn), with a further $5.63bn for sports. Asia-Pacific accounts for the largest share of the global bicycle market (63%) due to China and other populous countries in the region; however, Europe is projected to have the highest growth rate through to 2024 due to the rise of better cycling infrastructure and government support.
Yet another market researcher, Lucintel, reported that by 2021 the global bicycle market would reach $59.9bn, with a CAGR of 2.4%. This gives us a 2016 global value of $53.2bn. Similar to the findings of Persistence Market Research, Lucintel reported that Asia-Pacific will be the greatest player in the global cycling market, although they also reported that this will also be the greatest source of growth due to government incentives and high purchasing power.
CONCLUSION
To wrap it up, some 580m of the world's households currently have access to a bicycle, and the overall bicycle market size is between $33.8bn and $53.2bn. Asia-Pacific remains the key component of the global bicycle market, and strong growth is projected going forward, both within the Asia-Pacific region and in Europe.
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