Looking for some fascinating bicycle statistics and facts? Look no further! This article includes data from various fields, including traffic accidents, the environment, economics, health, transportation, and e-bikes.
Plus, I’ve thrown in some Tour de France statistics as a bonus. So, let’s dive right in! Get ready to discover some eye-opening insights about the world of cycling.
Disclaimer: Please note that while I have made every effort to provide the most accurate and up-to-date information possible, some of the data included in this article may not be current due to variations in publication dates.
Last stats update 27/04/2023
General Stats
It is estimated that there are more than 1 billion bicycles worldwide. Around 450 million of them are in China, and about 100 million in the USA. (Statista)
Globally, 42% of households own at least one bicycle (580 million or more bicycles). (The Johns Hopkins University)
Cyclists logged 8.1 billion miles (13.04 billion km) with 400 billion feet (121.92 billion meters) of elevation gain on Strava in 2020. (Strava)
The world produced more than 130 million bikes in 2007. (Worldwatch Institute)
The EU produced more than 13.5 million bikes in 2021. (Eurostat)
According to Statista, there are more than 23.4 million bikes in the Netherlands. That’s an average of 1.33 bikes per Dutch. (Statista)
Bikes outnumbered cars in Copenhagen for the first time in 2015. (City of Copenhagen)
TIP: Find out how many bikes were produced this year (or day) using this tool by Worldometers.
Accidents Stats
932 bicyclists were killed in traffic crashes in the US in 2020. This was the highest number since 1990. It accounted for 2.4% of all traffic fatalities. (NHTSA)
79% of the 717 bicyclists were killed in urban areas, while in rural areas, only 21% (190). (NHTSA)
The chart below shows the number of bicyclists killed in traffic in selected countries. (Data sources: CARE database, NHTSA)
While bicyclist deaths of people under 20 have declined almost every year since 1975, the trend for people above 20 is the opposite. 57% of bicyclists killed in 2020 were not wearing helmets. Helmet use was unknown for 25%. (IIHS)
Environmental Stats
According to Adventure Cycling Association, bicycling could save 6 to 14 million tons of CO2 and 700 million to 1.6 billion gallons (2.65 to 6.05 billion liters) of fuel annually. (Adventure Cycling)
Around 8,887g of CO2 emissions is produced by burning one gallon of fuel. (EPA)
Transportation accounted for 28% of total greenhouse gas emissions in 2021. (EPA)
Cycling brings an estimated 0.6–5.6 billion EUR (0.73–6.81 billion USD) in CO2 emission savings per year. This accounts for 16 million tons of CO2 equivalents. (ECF) For context, the USA produced 4,970 million metric tons of CO2 emissions in 2021. (Statista)
The estimated savings on noise pollution reduction are 0.3 billion EUR (0.36 billion USD) per year, thanks to cycling. (ECF)
A study of a public bike-sharing program, Bicing, in Barcelona, which had 191,982 subscribers in 2011, showed that CO2 emissions were reduced by about 9 million kg per year and that bicycle-sharing initiatives have greater health benefits than risks. (Center for Research in Environmental Epidemiology)
Economical Stats
The average number of bicycles sold in the US from 1992 to 2015 was 17.4 million a year. The lowest year was 2009, with 14.9 million; the highest was 2000, with 20.9 million bicycles sold. (Statista)
The average number of bicycles sold in the EU from 2000 to 2016 was 19.9 million yearly. The lowest year was 2001, with 17.745 million; the highest was 2007, with 21.344 million bicycles sold. In 2018, 20 million bicycles were sold, 19.8 million in 2019, 22 million in 2020, and 22.2 million in 2021. (Statista)
The average number of bicycles sold in China from 2011 to 2015 was 58.87 million a year. The lowest year was 2015, with 55.41 million; the highest was 2014, with 62.11 million bicycles sold. (Statista)
According to ECF, cycling produces global benefits of 150 billion EUR (182.4 billion USD) annually. This includes positive externalities for the environment, public health, and the mobility system. (ECF)
In 2021, EU Member States exported almost 1.5 million bicycles to countries outside the EU. Over the same period, they imported over 5.7 million bicycles from countries outside the EU. (Eurostat)
Portugal is the European Union’s main bicycle exporter, accounting for 15% of all bicycles exported in 2016, followed by Italy (14%) and the Netherlands (13%). (Eurostat)
The global bicycle market is estimated to reach 101 billion USD by the year 2030. (Research and Markets)
The 3 most represented brands in the US bicycle shops in 2011 were Trek/Fisher with 22.5%, Giant with 10.5%, and Specialized with 9.5%. (Statista)
The highest average bicycle price in 2016 was in the Netherlands (1,010 EUR), the 2nd highest in Denmark at 700 EUR, and the 3rd highest in Austria at 660 EUR. (Statista)
In 2022 the average bike price in Germany was 1,602 EUR. (Statista)
The global bicycle market should increase from 45.08 million USD in 2016 to 62.00 million USD in 2024. (Statista)
The estimated size of the US bicycle market was 5.8 billion USD in 2004 and 6.2 billion USD in 2015. (Statista)
According to Transportation Research Procedia research, more than 650,000 jobs were linked to cycling in the EU in 2016, and more than 400,000 could be created by doubling the cycling modal share. (TML)
More than 77,000 bicycles were reported to be stolen in the UK in 2022. (Statista)
For comparison, according to the FBI report, 154,009 bicycles were stolen in the USA in 2019. (FBI)
Around 99% of bicycles sold in the United States are imported from China and Taiwan. (Statista)
The best-selling bike category in the US was mountain bikes accounting for around 25% of all bikes sold in 2012. (Statista)
A US household’s average annual expenditure on bicycles was 23.85 USD in 2019. (Statista)
The best-paid pro cyclist is Tadej Pogačar, with his 6 million EUR contract with UAE Emirates. The second-highest-paid pro cyclists are Chris Froome, with their 5.5 million EUR contract with Israel Start-Up Nation and Total Energies, respectively. (calcioefinanza.it)
Health Benefits
Bicycling to work lowers the risk of cardiovascular diseases among middle‐aged adults. (JAHA)
The more often people cycle to work and the longer the distance traveled, the less they report sick. (TNO Quality of Life)
A study by Environmental Health Perspectives claims the estimated health benefits of cycling were, on average, substantially larger than the risks relative to car driving for individuals shifting their mode of transport. (University of Utrecht)
A study of more than 30,000 women showed that women who commute, walk, or bicycle to work 30 min or more daily had a slightly lower adjusted risk of breast cancer than women working at home, being unemployed, or driving a car to the workplace. (National Public Health Institute)
This study of 5,106 men and women from Copenhagen who were followed for an average of 18 years showed that intensive cycling is better at preventing coronary heart disease than slow cycling. Men with fast-intensity cycling survived 5.3 years longer, and men with average intensity 2.9 years longer than men with slow cycling intensity. For women, the figures were 3.9 and 2.2 years longer, respectively. (The Copenhagen City Heart Study)
A study conducted in Amsterdam showed that cyclists inhaled slightly more CO, about 3 times fewer air pollutants like benzene, toluene, xylenes, and about 4 times more NO2 than car drivers during 2 days testing period. (Municipal Health Service)
The Aging Cells study assessed the immune profiles of 125 adults (55-79 years) who maintained a high level of physical activity (cycling). Compared with their less active counterparts, the cyclists had significantly higher serum levels of the thymoprotective cytokine IL‐7 and lower IL‐6, which promotes thymic atrophy. (Anatomical Society)
TIP: You might also be interested in these scientifically-proven benefits of cycling.
Transportation Stats
According to Global Bicycle Cities Index, Utrecht (NL) was the most bike-friendly city, followed by Munster (DE) and Antwerp (BE) in 2022. (Luko)
New York was the most expensive city for 2-hour off-street parking in 2022, at an average of 43.10 USD. This was 32% more than in the second most expensive city, Sydney (32.65 USD). (Parkopedia)
According to the INRIX study, parking is the highest indirect/hidden cost of driving. It made up nearly 45% of the total cost of ownership in the USA in 2017. (INRIX)
In 1995, Bicycle trips in the US were made for work commuting (9%), shopping (12.7%), personal (12.5%), social or recreational (57%), and school (8.8%) purposes. (VTPI) NHTS study showed that commuting to work increased to 10.9% from all bicycle trip purposes in 2009. (NHTS)
In some urban areas like central London, people cycled 6 times more in 2018 than in 1977. (DfT UK)
People in England made 16 bicycle trips on average per person in 2019 with an average trip length of 3.3 miles (5.3 km). These numbers increased to 20 trips and 4.1 miles (6.6 km) in 2020. (DfT UK). (DfT UK)
Men made, on average, two-and-a-half as many trips as women from 2015-19, but only twice as many in 2020. (DfT UK)
People in the UK took 5% fewer bike trips per year in 2018 than in 2002. (DfT UK)
Only 1% of all road traffic (vehicle miles) was ridden by cyclists in Great Britain in 2019. (DfT UK)
E-Bikes Stats
The e-bike market was valued at 23.89 billion USD in 2020. The market is expected to witness a compound annual growth rate of 11.86% during the forecast period 2021–2026. This translates to a 46 billion USD industry in 2026. (Mordor Intelligence)
In 2020, EU Member States exported 273 900 e-bikes to countries outside the EU. Over the same period, they imported 839 100 million e-bikes from countries outside the EU. (Eurostat)
About 47.6 million e-bikes were sold in China in 2020. This number grew to 41 million in 2021. (Statista)
Bicycle and e-bike sales more than tripled in Germany between 2013 and 2020 (from 1.98 to 6.44 billion EUR). (Statista)
According to the NITC study, almost 29% of people bought an e-bike because of a physical limitation for riding a standard bicycle. (NITC)
The share of cyclists on Strava with an e-bike ride increased by 26% in 2022. (Strava)
Tour de France Stats
The fastest TdF was won at an average speed of 26mph (41.84km/h) in 2022. (Cyclists Hub)
The slowest TdF was won at an average speed of 14.89mph (23.97 km/h) in 1924. (Cyclists Hub)
The 20th edition of the TdF in 1926 holds the record for being the longest one ever, measuring 3,569.78 miles (5,745 km). (Cyclists Hub)
The longest TdF stage was the 5th stage of the 1919 edition. It measured 299.5 miles (482 km) and took the winner Jean Alavoine 18 hours and 54 minutes to complete. (Cyclists Hub)
The shortest TdF stage (excluding time trial stages) was the 15th stage of the 1971 edition. It was 12.18 miles (19.6 km) long. (Cyclists Hub)
Check out how much a Tour de France bike costs and how much a Tour de France bike weighs.
Final Thoughts
Thanks for reading my selection of the best bicycle statistics. As someone who enjoys both cycling and numbers, I had a great time researching and finding these fascinating stats and facts.
I’d love to hear from you! What’s your favorite bicycling statistic? Let me know in the comments below.
And if you have any suggestions for other interesting stats I might have missed, please contact me.
This post is regularly updated to provide you with the most up-to-date statistics. If you find stats that are not up to date, please, contact me.
