200 years on, Portugal is the EU’s top bicycle exporter
12/06/2017
It released the figures on June 12 to mark what it called the 200th birthday of the bicycle. “While its exact origins are uncertain,” the Commission said, “we know that in June 1817, the German Baron Karl von Drais tested ‘die Laufmaschine’, also known as the running machine, velocipede, Draisienne and dandy horse. Von Draise’s invention, which featured a steerable front wheel, was to become the forerunner of today’s bicycle.”
Two centuries on, the UK was EU’s leading bicycle importer in 2016, with 18% of all EU bicycle imports going there last year. More than 40% of bikes imported by EU member states came from outside the EU last year, mainly from Taiwan (24% of bicycles imported from non-EU countries), Cambodia (18%), Bangladesh (11%) and the Philippines (10%).
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