Bike-sharing: The pandemic mobility winner

Jun 3, 2021

With the collaboration of Statista.

image of a person riding a bike and wearing a mask

Bike-sharing demonstrated significant growth during the pandemic. Image: Unsplash/Roman Koester

Katharina Buchholz

Data Journalist, Statista

The Statista Mobility Outlook shows that the bike-sharing sector grew its global revenues by one third in 2020 at the height of the pandemic.
This is due to the fact bikes can be ridden by a single person in the open-air, significantly decreasing the risk of catching COVID-19
Meanwhile, all other mobility services suffered large setbacks - however, these are expected to bounce back in 2021.

Mobility was one of the losers of the coronavirus pandemic as people stayed home more and skipped vacations. One little subsector of the field, however, found its time to shine during lockdowns and quarantine: Bike-sharing. According to the Statista Mobility Outlook, the sector grew its global revenues by a third in 2020, while all other mobility services suffered hefty setbacks in the pandemic year. The single-person set-up and open-air nature of bike riding made it the perfect mode of transportation for the pandemic.

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According to the outlook, mobility services are expected to bounce back in 2021. Flights are expected to grow strongest, but also suffered the biggest losses in 2020. The situation is similar for long-distance buses, while trains, ride-hailing and car-sharing fared a little better in the past year. Due to the high pandemic growth, worldwide bike-sharing is expected to only experience moderate revenue gains of 5 percent in 2021.

The outlook looked at bike-sharing, car-sharing, ride-haling, car rentals and flights as well as long-distance trains and buses. It does not include chauffeur services, ferries, scooter sharing and public transportation.

a chart showing the revenue growth of selected modes of transport worldwide in percent, with bike-sharing peaking during the height of the pandemic

Bike-sharing peaked during the height of the pandemic. Image: Statista

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