Figures show fall in bike exports from UK to EU

The Bicycle Association (BA) has provided early analysis to its member companies of the UK trade figures for January 2021, which were released by HMRC today.

Bicycle exports from the UK to the EU fell by 60% in value and 32% in volume in January 2021 compared to January 2020, while e-bike exports fell by 51% in value and 63% in volume. More figures can be found below.

These figures provide some first indications of trade flow changes following the end of the Brexit transition period. However, the BA has said caution is needed when interpreting this data:

– Figures for UK exports to the EU for Jan 2021 use a new methodology, so comparison with Jan 2020 is ‘problematic’. See this article from the ONS for details

– Multiple factors will have influenced these trade figures: Brexit, COVID, pre-Brexit stockpiling and possibly also wider logistics issues affecting international shipping. So assigning all change to Brexit, for example, would be premature

– Thus far, only one month’s data (Jan 2021 vs Jan 2020) is available for comparison, so this is unlikely to be reliable as an indicator for longer trends. The BA will provide its members with more considered analysis in its regular quarterly import/export report, which will be circulated to member companies once Q1 figures are all available (mid-May). Meanwhile, participants in the BA’s Market Data Service will benefit from early, accurate and detailed UK sales data. Also, in April the Bicycle Association will release a full market report covering 2020 and the impact on supply in 2021

Data below has been derived from HMRC’s UK Trade Info website, and in each case, the figures are for percentage changes from Jan 2020 to Jan 2021, for value (GBP) and volume (number of bikes/e-bikes):

Read the March issue of BikeBiz below: