Jose Sanchez
Research expert covering society, economy, & politics for Latin America
Cycling - statistics & facts
Cycling is much more than just a mode of transport. It is a significant global industry, with the size of the international bicycle market forecast to be over 60 billion U.S. dollars in 2025. It is also an elite professional sport, and leading cycling competitions rank among the most followed in world sport: in 2024, the Tour de France鈥檚 European TV audience amounted to around 150 million viewers. With plenty to offer both on and off the saddle, cycling is likely to remain a key part of the global sports market for years to come.
How many people cycle?
Participation levels for cycling are high across the world; it was Japan鈥檚 most popular outdoor sports activity in 2023. Meanwhile, England鈥檚 number of regular cycling participants totals over seven million, or around 16 percent of the population aged 16 and older. There are several different types of cycling to take part in: in 2023, nearly 4.5 million people in the United States participated in BMX, while the number of mountain biking participants was over nine million.Which countries produce the best cyclists?
Road and track cycling events have featured in the Olympics for over a century, with the Netherlands leading the all-time medal table for Olympic road cycling. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the country with the most men鈥檚 Tour de France wins is the host country itself, followed by Belgium. Meanwhile, the women鈥檚 Tour offers a different picture, with no French cyclist featuring in the list of Tour de France Femmes winners. With the TdF鈥檚 social media figures looking healthy 鈥 amassing over 1.52 billion impressions in 2024 鈥 both the men鈥檚 and women鈥檚 Tours will hope that the path to continued growth will be all downhill from here.
