Bangladesh’s bicycle exports are back on an upward trajectory, with shipments reaching $39 million in the first quarter of FY26, marking a 64 percent jump from the same period last year.
According to the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB), the $39 million in bicycle exports for the July-September quarter is 31 percent higher than the previous three months, raising hopes for recovery after a two-year downtrend.
Averaging about $100 per bicycle, Bangladesh exported an estimated 1 million bicycles in last fiscal year, generating $116 million, although still below the 2021-22 peak of $168 million.
When new duties hurt Southeast Asian countries’ bicycle exports to Europe in the 1990s, the door for Bangladesh opened, according to Alita Bangladesh Limited General Manager AHM Ferdous.
In 1995, the company, founded by Taiwanese entrepreneurs, opened a factory in the Chattogram Export Processing Zone to start Bangladesh’s bicycle export journey, which gradually strengthened with the entrance of new exporters.
Alita Bangladesh alone exported more than 60,000 bicycles in the last fiscal year.
The export market for Bangladeshi bicycles continued to grow during the pandemic, driven by surging demand in Europe, where people were buying bicycles for social distancing.
Bangladesh’s exports doubled in just two years before the Ukraine war started weakening European consumers in 2022. Exports in the next two years fell back to pre-pandemic levels.
In FY20, Bangladesh exported $82 million worth of bicycles. In FY22, the industry reached $167 million before starting to decline again amid the Ukraine war.
“Our exports started declining in 2022 as the key market weakened,” Ferdous told TIMES.
EPB data shows that Europe is the largest market for Bangladeshi bicycle exports. Germany and the United Kingdom alone buy over half of the bicycles shipped from Bangladesh.
With European market challenges easing, Ferdous expects export opportunities to expand further in the next 2-4 years.
“As people become more concerned about the environment and their health, they are using bicycles for short commutes,” said Kamruzzaman Kamal, marketing director of Pran-RFL Group.
“As we are producing good quality products, the market will obviously grow larger,” he said.
Kamruzzaman added that as we have had a tariff advantage compared to other bicycle exporting countries, the US has emerged as a new opportunity for us.”
Bicycle exports to the US surged to $3.6 million in FY24 from about $1 million in FY23.
However, the sector saw a slight decline in FY25, settling just below the $3 million mark.
In the first three months of this fiscal year, bicycle exports to the US rose by 8 percent year-on-year to $0.78 million.
Bangladesh saw bicycle export growth in the US market until 2013, when the US cancelled Bangladesh’s duty-free benefits under the Generalized System of Preferences.
If Bangladesh graduates from LDC status in 2026, it will lose duty-free benefits in the EU by 2029, while some major competitors will retain them.
According to industry insiders, Bangladesh mostly produces commuter bicycles.
However, some exporters have also started making mountain bikes in recent years.
Bangladesh is also getting future-ready, as Alita Bangladesh and Pran-RFL Group plan to launch eco-friendly, battery-powered e-bikes.
“The import dependency of the local market has also been reduced due to the manufacture of quality cycles,” Kamruzzaman said.
Meghna Group, the largest player in the country’s bicycle manufacturing and exports, has already built its carbon fiber bicycle frames in partnership with German and Taiwanese firms. Other components, including forks and seats, are being manufactured locally for more value addition.
