Two billion euros in revenues and an impact on tourism that exceeds 7 billion euros. These are the most striking numbers that emerge from the third edition of “Bicycle Ecosystem”, the annual report developed by Bank Ifis which photographs the trend and prospectstives of one of the leading sectors of the sustainable transition. Italy is therefore confirmed as the leader among European producers of bicycles with a positive outlook also for 2023.
“The bicycle represents the perfect synthesis of innovation, technology, people's well-being and the prosperity of businesses and territories. In a word, the bicycle is sustainability, economic and social. This is the reason why we wanted to propose the third edition of "Bicycle Ecosystem", the observatory of our Research Office which, every year, offers an original perspective on a sector that confirms itself as a lively driving force of our economy and a vehicle for promotion of our territories. As a bank serving Italian SMEs for forty years, we are perfectly aware of the importance of a sector, such as the production of bicycles, which generates more and more positive impacts on the environment, people and communities” he declares Ernesto Fürstenberg Fassio, Chairman of Banca Ifis.
Bikes: all Italian numbers
In 2022, the revenues of Italian bicycle and component manufacturers grew by +10%, reaching the threshold of 2 billion euros.
The increase in turnover went hand in hand with the increase in profitability. In particular: theebitda it went from 6% in 2020 to 11% in 2022; The ROE it rose from 6,4% in 2020 to 13% in 2022.
The value of trade balance in the sector was confirmed as highly positive, growing by +28% thanks to the change in the product mix towards models with high added value. In particular, the production of e-bikes grew (average annual growth between 2019 and 2022 of +21,3%) which compensated for the slight drop in the production of mechanical bikes (-3,1%).
The strong weight of the sector also contributed to the growth of the sector'export: in 2022, this stood at 21% of turnover with an outlook for growth of a further two percentage points in 2023.
At the national level, iNorthern Italy concentrates around 80% of production and 92% of turnover. The distribution is instead more diversified: 56% of the companies are concentrated in the North, while the remaining 44% is well distributed in the rest of the country.
Bikes and inflation
Finally, it is significant the impact of inflation on manufacturing companies. In 2022, as many as 97% of producers saw an impact from the price increase and 60% of them judged it significant. However, companies have managed to offset the rise in inflation thanks to theincrease in the prices of finished products and the increase in strategic agreements with the reference supply chain.
The outlook for 2023
For 2023, the Banca Ifis report has revised the outlook on turnover upwards, forecasting a further increase of 6%. “The sector will be driven above all by the plans of the manufacturers which envisage a strong acceleration in 5 macro-categories: digital technology; staff training; research and development; energy saving; sustainability,” reads the report. Furthermore, during the current year, the manufacturing companies have declared their intention to reduce imports of semi-finished products and components, a choice that should favor the polarization of "Made in Italy" by increasing the quality of the products.
