FRANKFURT (dpa-AFX) - Germany is a stronghold in Europe when it comes to the electric bike trend. E-bikes generated sales of just under 6.2 billion euros in this country in 2022 - almost half (45 percent) of total European sales of electric bikes, shows a study published Friday by consulting firm EY.

In Germany, electric bikes contributed more than 80 percent of bicycle sales, it said. Across Europe, the share was 62 percent in 2022. According to the report, the share of sales accounted for by e-bikes was similarly high as in Germany in the Netherlands, while e-bikes accounted for only 16 percent of total sales in the United Kingdom. In France, the figure was around 60 percent, while in Spain it was over 40 percent. Because of the significantly higher prices than for classic bikes, e-bikes are lucrative for the bicycle industry, especially in Germany. The boom is also likely to continue because of the trend toward electrified cargo bikes, according to the study authors.

Across Europe, just under a quarter of bikes sold in 2022 were already e-bikes, EY further noted. In Germany, however, e-bikes are likely to overtake classic bikes in sales for the first time as early as this year, the bicycle industry association ZIV estimates.

Sales of electric bikes have quadrupled in this country since 2015, ZIV said, despite high prices: In 2022, an e-bike cost an average of 2800 euros, more than five times as much as a mechanical bike (500 euros). Due to the high demand in the pandemic, the prices for e-bikes in Europe increased by about 40 percent between 2018 and 2022, EY calculated.

Now e-bikes should become cheaper again, the authors believe. They expect prices to fall by five percent on average in Europe in 2023. A forecast for Germany was not available. "The warehouses of bike stores are full, but demand is no longer rising as strongly as in previous years," said EY expert Constantin Gall. Consumers could hope for short-term discount promotions in the trade.

The bicycle industry had boomed during the pandemic as customers shunned public transportation and discovered cycling in the fresh air with little risk of infection. Due to high demand, manufacturers could not keep up, and delivery problems arose. Most recently, the market cooled down again.

However, EY believes that sales in the European bicycle industry will continue to increase thanks to rising sales figures - by 1.7 percent to 22.5 billion euros this year. By comparison, sales in 2018 were still at 13 billion euros. Germany was by far the largest bicycle market in Europe with around 7.4 billion euros in revenue in 2022, followed by Italy (3.1 billion) and the UK (2.4 billion)./als/DP/zb