Parcel shipment is a booming business relying on e-commerce shoppers for increased volume and revenues. While the coronavirus pandemic brought about another boost for global parcel volumes, the mailing services company, Pitney Bowes, suggested that the growth had already followed a steep trajectory before the pandemic.
The trajectory mainly benefited from China, which takes a significant part in the global shipping industry. More than 83 billion parcels, almost two-thirds of the global total, are currently shipped in China. The country’s e-commerce sector expanded rapidly before the pandemic and continued during the global health crisis.
The boost also happened in other countries. In the U.S., 17% more parcels were shipped in 2019 than in 2018. Between 2019 and 2020, that increase went up to 37%. Similar effects existed in the UK and Germany, where there was a previous annual growth from 11% and 6%, respectively, to 32% and 11% in the pandemic. Japan, a country with a shrinking population, stagnated in its parcel shipments for a period of time, which suggested that the volume of shipment of each Japanese increased. According to Pitney Bowes, there were 131 billion parcels shipping worldwide in 2020. The number tripled in the past six years and was expected to double again in the next five.
China was the biggest market for parcel volumes, while the United States remained the largest in parcel spending, taking $171.4 billion of $430 billion. The world’s three biggest markets, China, the U.S., and Japan, accounted for 85% of global parcel volumes and 77% of global parcel spending in 2020. The data includes parcels of four kinds of shipments, business-business, business-consumer, consumer-business, and consumer consigned, with a total weight up to 31.5 kg (70 pounds).
Post time: Jan-15-2021