The countries most eager to learn to ride a bike

As part of its new Learn To Ride Report, adventure travel company Explore Worldwide has revealed which countries want to learn to ride a bike the most, respective of their population size.

The extensive study looks at how many times phrases such as how to ride a bike and learn to ride a bike are searched for online in different countries and languages around the world, and then cross-references the search volumes with the population of each region. The resulting ratios have been visualised with a global heat map showing which countries want to learn to ride a bike the most.

The most eager countries originate in North America, with 21 of the top 50 countries that want to learn to ride a bike the most coming from this continent. Smaller countries, where biking provides an efficient and practical mode of transport, such as The Cayman Islands, Bermuda and Grenada dominate the top ten, but North America’s major regions – the USA and Canada – also feature highly in the rankings. Canada’s eagerness to learn to ride a bike comes in at 43^rd in the world rankings, with USA just below in 47^th place. Explore Worldwide took a deep dive into each USA state’s Google search data to reveal that Vermont, Wyoming and North Dakota are the American states that are most keen to learn to ride a bike.

In Europe, Belgium comes out as one of the countries with the biggest appetite for learning to ride a bike, followed by the UK, Germany and the Netherlands. Whilst Belgium doesn’t have the highest population of cyclists*, it has a real enthusiasm for the sport, with a boom in cycle paths and incentives over the last few years, and a passionate cycling fan base. Belgium’s passion for cycling remains strong, with over 5,300 annual searches related to learning to ride a bike, despite its population of 11.6 million. The Netherlands (which have one of the largest percentages of cycling populations on the world) show no signs of slowing down their love affair with riding a bike, coming 8^th in the European rankings (and 39^th overall). The UK comes 28^th in the world rankings, showing a real commitment to greener transport and outdoor exercise, along with Germany who rank 34^th worldwide.

Australia and New Zealand both land inside the top 50 countries in the world that are most keen to learn to ride a bike, coming 30^th and 35^th respectively. The latest statistics from the CWANZ** suggest whilst cycling participation boomed during the Covid years, it’s dropped in popularity more recently in Australia and New Zealand.

Michael Edwards, Managing Director at Explore! said: “We undertook our Learn To Ride Report to better understand people’s relationships with riding a bike, and whilst our survey showed that most adults can ride a bike, only 46% say they feel ‘very confident’ in doing so. Our maps illustrating which nationalities most want to improve their bike skills show that even in countries with a high number of cyclists, there are still plenty of people looking to improve on their bike confidence and ability.  

“As well as revealing which nationalities want to learn to ride a bike the most, our report also looked at which locations around the world are most interesting to cyclists this year, with Taipei, Auckland and Khao Lak all making the top five most popular bike tour destinations of 2023.”

To learn more about cycling attitudes, trending destinations in 2023, and tips from Bikeability for boosting bike confidence in both children and adults, see Explore Worldwide’s Learn To Ride Report.