Bulgaria on the world map for bicycle production

Borislav Georgiev - expert in foreign trade

The bicycle was created by the German aristocrat Karl von Drais in 1813. By 1899, there were one million bicycles in the world. Today, more than 100 million units are sold worldwide each year. The bicycle is a "green" vehicle with both healthy, transport and sports functions. What determines it is the manpower drive, which is preserved for the Electrically powered assisted cycles (EPAC) created in 1998 in the EU. The electric motor has a limited power of up to 250 watts, helping only up to 25 km / h and only if one turns the pedals. With EPAC, the electrical part cannot run on its own. It only helps and facilitates the cyclist. There is a world standard BDS / EN / ISO 4210 for classic mechanical bicycles. For EPAC there is only a European standard BDS / EN 15194.

Bulgarian bicycle exports for 2021 total a total of nearly 481 million euros for nearly 775 thousand bicycles. The value of imported components (this is the practice of all European and world producers) is more than two thirds of these exports. Between five and eight EU countries account for more than 90% of Bulgarian exports in euros and the number of bicycles. Bulgaria is on the third position among the EU27 exporters for EPAC and on the seventh position for the bicycles for 2021. The production and export of bicycles is a structurally defining Bulgarian industry. A sectoral export strategy would contribute significantly to its sustainability and development.

EU-wide exports for 2021 are worth nearly € 9.2 billion for nearly 13 million bicycles. The ratio is that every two EPACs have 5-wheel exports, but EPACs account for almost 80% of the EU27's export value. This sector is developing mainly because of the equality of all world producers, protected by trade defense measures in accordance with WTO rules.

The recent crisis in energy prices and the cost of living has exacerbated the socio-economic inequalities uncovered by the COVID-19 pandemic. Difficulties in the supply chain create additional pressure, hamper both the various sectors of industry and decarbonisation efforts, and raise questions about security of energy and raw material supply and independence from imports.

Another major shortage we face is skilled workers. Attracting and retaining workers in changing sectors is a huge challenge. This environment existed before the war in Ukraine, but has been exacerbated by it. All this is happening in the conditions of green and digital transition.

There are national sectoral Velo strategies that are good to learn from. Germany has its own plan - National Cycling Plan 3.0; France has a report of an MP from January 2022 Economic Sector of the Bicycle in the volume of 82 pages with 10 measures and 63 proposals, which are practically applicable to a large extent for Bulgaria; USA - The Global Bicycle Market - A Comprehensive Plan to Re-Shore the US Bike and E-Bike Industry from November 2021 in a volume of 24 pages with a 10-point plan on how to make this happen, also largely applicable in Bulgaria .

The strategic decision is to create a national Bulgarian sector strategy for the production and export of bicycles for sustainability and development in the coming years. The first step may be the "laboratory" analysis with the specific figures from the last five years, according to the attached tables:

The data on the export and export potential of Bulgaria are structured in 8 tables and can be provided by the Author with a request to the address: bic@bia-bg.com

	Sheet	Description
1	EU27ImpBike	EU27 imports of EEA of 87116010 and bicycles of 871200 for 2017-2021 in EUR'000 and the number, including from China, as well as the same data for the United Kingdom and Turkey
2	EU27ExpBike	EU27 exports of EEA of 87116010 and bicycles of 871200 for 2017 - 2021 in EUR'000 and number, as well as the same data for the United Kingdom and Turkey
3	EU27Imp87116010	Imports into the EU27 of the EEA of 87116010 for 2017 - 2021 in EUR'000 and the number, including from China in total and by Member State
4	EU87116010ImpEur	Imports into the EU27 of the EEA of 87116010 for 2017 - 2021 in EUR'000, including from China in total and from Member States by shares and cumulative shares for 2021.
5	EU87116010ImpUnits	Imports into the EU27 of EEA of 87116010 for 2017 - 2021 in number, including from China in total and from Member States sorted by shares and cumulative shares for 2021
6	EU27Exp87116010	EU27 exports of the EEAP from 87116010 for 2017-2021 in EUR'000 and the number by Member State broken down by units and cumulative shares for 2021
7	EU27Exp87116010ExpEur	EU27 exports of the EEAP from 87116010 for 2017-2021 in EUR'000 by Member State broken down by clusters and cumulative shares for 2021
8	EU27Exp87116010Units	EU27 exports of the EEAP of 87116010 for 2017 - 2021 in the number by Member State broken down by units and cumulative shares for 2021
9	EU27Imp871200WorldChina	Imports into the EU27 of bicycles from 871200 for 2017 - 2021 in thousands of euros and the number, including from China in total and by Member States, classified by title for 2021
10	EU27Exp871200WorldEU27	Exports from the EU27 of bicycles from 871200 for 2017 - 2021 in thousands of euros and the number - total and by Member State, classified by title for 2021
11	BG_ExpImp2017_2021Velo	Export and import of bicycles in Bulgaria, components for production for the period 2017 - 2021 in euros and number of wheels and EPAC
12	BGexpVeloGeo	Geography of bicycle exports from Bulgaria for 2017 - 2021 with market share in euro and in number
13	BGimpVeloGeo	Geography of bicycle imports in Bulgaria for 2017 - 2021 with the share of suppliers in euros and in number
	Source of data: www.trademap.org processed in May 2022, © BG

Sofia, June 2022

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