In front of a bike shop in Crépy-en-Valois, May 12, 2020. FRANCOIS NASCIMBENI/AFP
For the third consecutive year, new bicycle sales in France dropped in 2025. The French market was worth €1.86 billion last year, down 8.4% compared to 2024. In terms of volume, the sector recorded a fourth straight year of decline, with 1.84 million bikes sold. Almost one million more were sold in 2021, according to figures from the UESC, the professional organization for the sports and cycling industry, published on Friday, April 24.
Sales of e-bikes, on which brands, especially French ones, had long pinned their hopes, no longer suffice to boost the market. Last year, 507,000 of these bikes were sold, fewer than the record 738,000 in 2022 and even fewer than in 2020. Electric models, with an average price of €1,999, now represent only 54% of the market, compared to 58% in 2024. On average, whether electric or not, a new bike sells for €1,014, a figure that is no longer rising. Among retailers, inventory levels remain high.
The sector, made up of assemblers, suppliers of spare parts and wholesale or retail distributors, is still coping with the consequences of the so-called "Covid bubble," as termed by the UESC. After the first lockdown in spring 2020, cycling benefited from a favorable context: People were wary of public transport, sought outdoor exercise and authorities set up many temporary bike lanes, many of which later became permanent. Demand followed, as did production, so that today, 28% of new bikes are assembled in France. But most people do not buy a new bike every year.
