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The Cambodian bicycle export market is undergoing a reform, gradually shifting from the traditional bicycle export to the electric bicycle market with more potential and growth room. This shift has led to a soaring e-bike exports in Cambodia.
A declination of bike exports
Cambodia is one of the world’s top five bicycle exporters after China, the Netherlands and Germany. Since 2022, Cambodia has replaced China as the largest exporter of bicycles to the European market, largely thanks to low labor costs. Bicycles have become one of Cambodia’s main exports after clothing, footwear and travel goods. Cambodian bicycles are mainly assembled in the Special Economic zone in Pau City, Svay Rieng province, bordering Vietnam.
Cambodia’s bicycle export market is mainly concentrated in Europe and the United States, in recent years, Cambodia’s bicycle export volume and export value show a steady growth trend. However, since 2023, European and American market demand has fallen significantly. Due to inventory overhang and increased global economic uncertainty, European and American customers began to cut a large number of orders, resulting in Cambodian bicycle manufacturers are facing a sharp decline in orders.
According to the relevant data of the European Union and the United States, since 2023, the imports of Cambodian bicycles in these two markets have declined sharply, and Cambodian bicycle exports have also suffered heavy losses, with the total export value of 2023 falling by 53.68% from the previous year, falling to $416.7 million, the lowest level in recent years.
By 2024, this decline has not improved. In the first eight months of this year, Cambodian exports of bicycles and e-bikes totaled $278 million (about 256 million euros), down 30 percent from the same period last year, and the number of bicycles imported from Cambodia by the EU also decreased to 568,341 units from 717,572 units in 2023. At the same time, the average value per bike has also dropped significantly from 377 euros last year to 262 euros in 2024.
The decline in traditional bicycle exports and the shift in the focus of market consumption have still allowed Cambodia to explore new growth points and achieve great success in electric bicycle exports.
The rise of e-bike exports
Unlike traditional bicycles, the export market for electric bikes is showing a very different trend. Although the export volume of electric bicycles was small at first, it has made a significant breakthrough in 2024.
Policy support
In December 2021, the Cambodian government submitted a carbon neutral long-term development strategy to the secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, promising to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, when electric motorcycles will account for 70% of the total number of motorcycles, because the e-biek rebates made the e-bike cost less. And electric vehicles and electric buses will account for 40% of similar transportation.
Chea Kok Hong, deputy director General of the Policy Bureau of Cambodia’s Ministry of Finance and Economy, told economic reporters that in order to cooperate with the smooth implementation of the new policy, the policy defines the responsibilities of various departments, agencies and relevant parties, sets a timetable and roadmap for the implementation of the plan, and establishes a mechanism to follow up and monitor the implementation results and solve problems.
In June 2024, officials from Cambodia’s Ministry of Finance and Economy disclosed that the country will promote the sustainable development of the electric vehicle industry in Cambodia through the implementation of a new policy.
Cambodia’s upcoming EV development policy will promote the phased development and establishment of an EV ecosystem in Cambodia, including attracting investment to set up EV assembly plants, component manufacturing plants and EV charging station service networks in Cambodia. The new policy encourages the widespread use of electric vehicles by the public and government agencies.
The aforementioned policy vision is to develop Cambodia into a country with a high level of electric vehicle adoption by vigorously building an electric vehicle industry ecosystem to support and achieve Cambodia’s sustainable development Goals. The government will create incentives to boost sales of electric vehicles in the country. Central and local governments also plan to allocate budgets to buy electric vehicles.
According to the plan, Cambodian officials expect that by 2030, the number of electric vehicles in Cambodia will increase to 30,000, and the number of electric motorcycles will increase to 740,000. Between 2030 and 2040, the number of electric vehicles and motorcycles in Cambodia will exceed 1 million.
The Cambodian e-bike export market
In 2023, the EU27 only imported 1,035 e-bikes from Cambodia, which has increased to 13,838 from January to August this year, indicating that Cambodia is gradually emerging in the e-bike market.
As early as 2022, Cambodia began to enter this market, exporting 5,089 e-bikes to Europe, but it was not until 2024 that its growth momentum was maintained. While the volatility between 2022 and 2024 May reflect the instability of the market, it is also a testament to Cambodia’s potential and competitiveness in e-bike production.
The export value of electric bicycles is also showing a similar growth trend. Growing from €1.8 million in 2023 to €12.4 million in 2024, this data not only reflects the rapid growth of the e-bike market, but also reflects Cambodia’s great potential in e-bike exports.
Conclusion
Cambodia is still one of the top five bicycle exporters in the world, and its bicycle export business is still competitive and still maintains its regional leading position. And here’s the electric bike buying guide for your reference.
In addition to the General System of Preferences (GSP) and Most Favored Nation (MFN) schemes, Cambodia also exports bicycles to the European Union and the United States under Free trade agreements and other trade agreements.
This article introduces the past situation of Cambodia’s traditional bicycle export and the current Cambodia is still trying to maintain its position in the bicycle export market, and actively explore new growth points and market opportunities to promote Cambodia’s electric bicycle export.
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