Taiwan’s exports of bicycles and bicycle parts last year increased 23.11 percent annually to US$6.15 billion from US$4.99 billion the previous year, with an average annual increase of 8.2 percent over the past 10 years, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday, citing the latest customs statistics.
Bicycle parts accounted for 48 percent of the industry’s total exports, rising 26.65 percent year-on-year to US$2.95 billion, with outbound shipments of bicycle parts growing 12.7 percent annually on average in the past 10 years, the data showed.
Exports of traditional bicycles totaled US$1.63 billion last year, up 22.4 percent from 2021, but their share of the industry’s total exports fell to 26.6 percent from 26.7 percent in 2021 and from 67.5 percent in 2012 amid growing uptake of bicycle-sharing systems, the ministry said.
Photo: Ritchie B. Tongo, EPA-EFE
Exports of electric bicycles last year rose 17.7 percent annually to US$1.56 billion. The value of outbound shipments grew 57.5 percent since 2012, due mainly to a rapid growth in European and US markets, as well as the products having higher selling prices, the ministry said.
Electric bicycles accounted for 25.4 percent of the industry’s overall exports last year, compared with 26.6 percent in 2021.
The US, the Netherlands, Germany, the UK and China were the top five destinations for Taiwanese bicycles and bicycle parts last year, accounting for 63.6 percent of the industry’s total exports.
The US continued to be the largest export market last year for traditional bicycle manufacturers, and the Netherlands remained the largest market for electric bicycles, while most of bicycle-related shipments to Germany were bicycle parts.
The ministry said Taiwan’s electric bicycles have increased their market share in the US, the EU and China, thanks to more Taiwanese firms moving production of high-end models back home amid US-China trade tensions.
However, Taiwan faces rising competition from Cambodia, as the Southeast Asian country has benefited from better tariff terms for bicycle exports to Europe and the US, which have led several European and US brands to set up production bases there, the ministry said.
The EU’s imports of bicycles from Cambodia exceeded those from Taiwan for the first time in 2021, it added.
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