Global Bicycle Market – Sustaining Sound Health & Promoting Green Mobility

The increasing cognizance of the benefits of a healthy lifestyle is fundamental to the growth of the global bicycle market. Bicycling is also increasingly perceived as a form of leisure activity in both developed and developing economies.  Further, the need to remedy, maintain a sound functioning health as well as prevent cardio-vascular-diseases (CVD), diabetes and obesity that are increasingly prevalent are also factors that are anticipated to augment the growth of the global bicycle market. Additionally, the lockdown measures due to the COVID 19 pandemic have brought about a renewed interest in bicycles which has resulted in a spike in bicycle sales are factors which are also expected to contribute to the projected growth of the global bicycle market. Moreover, with the introduction of electric bicycles and the emergence of dockless bike-sharing services which has revolutionized bike-sharing markets during recent years and the growth in shared bike fleets in China, as well as their rapid expansion throughout the world, is anticipated to lead to the global bicycle market growth that is projected to grow at a CAGR of 6.98% to attain a market value of US$76.845 billion by 2025 from the market value of US$51.262 billion that was estimated for 2019.

 

bicycle market

 

The Emergence of Dockless Bike-Sharing Systems to Augment the Growth of the Global Bicycle Market

The dockless design of bike-sharing systems has been recognized for substantiality enhancing the experience of the users at the end of the trip. Since it comes devoid of the responsibility of returning it to a designated dock, this system offers and an unparalleled degree of convenience that makes it comparatively more attractive. Moreover, the high degree of flexibility and efficiency of this kind of system makes it an ideal option for integration with public transit offering a competent option for first/last-mile trips. Also, the embedded GPS tracking in every dockless shared bike allows for an unexampled degree of data collection which facilitates new means of people's travel behavior analysis. Further being essentially a sharing system, it is known to incentivize the use of bikes for running errands, leisure trips, and commutes, which also helps in minimizing the fuel usage and emissions, traffic congestion alleviation as well as meeting the needs for recommended exercise by incorporating physical activity into daily life. Additionally, the use of mobile applications for locating, unlocking, and making payments made it possible to overcome the barriers which prevent the adoption of station-based bike-sharing services. After experiencing growth in China, this kind of system has been widely adopted in the United Kingdom, the USA, the Netherlands, and Singapore as well as in India.

For instance, in India, where bicycling has emerged synonymous with lifestyle, a Gurugram-based startup called Mobycy that was founded in 2017 has been reportedly endeavoring towards creating a sustainable means of mobility. Further, a comprehensive Public Bicycle Sharing (PBS) system with 3,000 bicycles was launched by the former Chief Minister of Karnataka, India, HD Kumaraswamy called “Trin Trin” in March 2019. The project has been led by The Directorate of Urban Land Transport of the state which is responsible for issuing licenses, among others. Also, an Ahmadabad based sustainable mobility solutions provider called MYBYK was reportedly keen on aggressively expand across the entire city that has received permits under the 'Amdabike' project of SCADL (Smart City Ahmedabad Development Limited) to provide its fully automated IoT enabled dockless bicycle sharing service. Further, in August 2020, it was reported that LTA (the Land Transport Authority) Singapore has opened its bike-sharing license application cycle which normally is made accessible every January and July. There is also an option for applying for a sandbox license to start bike-sharing operations on a small scale of up to 1,000 bicycles in Singapore. Additionally, in November 2019, SG Bike which is a startup formed by bicycle rental firm Park Cosco Recreation and estate upgrading company ISOTeam Ltd (SGX: 5WF), which is a majority shareholder, in 2017 had announced that it has completed the acquisition of Mobike's license, thus the Singapore operations for about S$2.54 million, enabling the former to operate a fleet of 25,000 bicycles in Singapore.

Prevalence of Diabetes in Adults (Age: 20–79 Years) (Projection)

bicycle market

In %

Raw diabetes prevalence

Source: International Diabetes Federation

The Rising Incidences of Chronic and Non-Communicable Diseases Are Expected to Augment the Global Bicycle Market Growth

Health has been inextricably linked with the automotive industry and the bicycle market is no exemption. To this end, it is important to note that the prevalence of non-communicable diseases such as CVDs, diabetes, and obesity has led to a growth in demand for bicycles globally. This is because bicycling aids in the fulfillment of physical fitness needs and facilitate sustaining healthy lifestyles. According to the U.S Department of Health and Human Services, the prevalence of obesity has grown to 42.4% by the year 2017 from 30.55 % registered in 1999. Also, according to the department crude estimates for both diagnosed and undiagnosed diabetes prevalence in 2018 comprised 34.2 million people of all ages or 10.5% of the US population with diabetes, 34.1 million adults aged 18 years or older i.e., 13.0% of all US adults with regards to undiagnosed diabetes.  7.3 million adults aged 18 years or older who corresponded to laboratory benchmarks for diabetes either did not report the diseases or were either never aware of the condition.

Additionally, as per the International Diabetes Federations as of 2019, about 116 million adults in China were estimated to be living with diabetes, SEA (South-East Asia) region constitutes a total of 7 countries and territories had registered a total of 87,611300 individuals, the same year. This research shows that cycling reduces blood sugar levels which in turn results in the reduction of the risk of diabetes. Further, according to the Department of Health & Human Services, State Government of Victoria, Australia, CVDs include the risk of stroke, high blood pressure, and heart attack and can be mitigated by the stimulation provided by regular cycling. Further cycling reduced blood fat levels, minimizes resting pulse, and strengthens hurt muscles. The aforesaid comprehension and the global acknowledgment of the instrumentality of bicycles to manage such non-communicable diseases are expected to propel the global bicycle growth.