Although many of the world’s industries are affected by the current economic downturn, there is good news for those linked to cycling after the publication of a study showing growth is still taking place.
The NPD Group carried out the assessment and concluded that worldwide sales totalled 137 million bicycles last year, an increase of four percent.
The total retail sales reflected this growth, with the study – entitled The Global Sport Market Estimate – revealing total retail sales after VAT of all bike related equipment and services being 32.9 billion euro (45.8 bn US dollar). The value one year earlier was 29.9 billion euro (39.5 bn US dollar).
According to Bike Europe, NPD data provided to it that the average price of a bike stood at 179 euro (249 US dollar) in 2010.
While the survey includes low end models, the overall trend for the industry is a very promising one. It reflects the popularity of cycling, which the survey concluded is the world’s biggest revenue-generating sports market. It is reported as representing 15% of the global market, up one percent from last year.