Pitney Bowes Inc., a global technology company that provides commerce solutions in e-commerce, shipping, mailing, data, and financial services, released the new Parcel Shipping Index featuring 2020 data from 13 major markets around the world.
The Index finds global parcel volume reached 131 billion in 2020, equating to 4.160 parcels shipped per second – an increase of 27 percent year-over-year. On average, 34 parcels were delivered per person. The Index estimates parcel volume could reach 232 billion or as high as 303 billion by 2026. The most likely outcome is that parcel volume will double in the next five years to reach 266 billion in 2026 with an 11 percent CAGR from 2021-2026.
The Pitney Bowes Parcel Shipping Index, now in its sixth year, reveals parcel volume increased across all regions in 2020 except for India. China remains the largest market by volume, with parcel numbers reaching 83.4 billion in 2020 or 2643 parcels shipped every second. Based on forecasts from Pitney Bowes, China is expected to become the first country in the Index to reach 100 billion parcels by volume in one year, which is likely to happen in 2021. 2020 was the first year US parcel volume increased faster than China since the start of the Shipping Index.
Carrier parcel revenue increased across all 13 countries in 2020, collectively reaching $429 billion, up 22 percent since 2019. The US remains the market with the highest carrier revenue of all regions in the Index. However, countries including the US, Brazil, and Australia saw their more established carriers lose market share to competitors.
The latest Index introduces a new performance measure, revenue per parcel. Tracking this datapoint provides insight into carriers’ ability to respond profitably to changing market conditions. France generated the highest revenue per parcel in the report at $9.3. Conversely, China’s revenue per parcel was the lowest at $1.5.
Source: Pitney Bowes