Parcel traffic worldwide by sector 2015-2020

In 2020, domestic parcel traffic increased to over 24.8 billion units from 21 billion parcels in the previous year.

Parcel traffic as an indication of global economic transformation

The global economy experiences a transformation as the e-commerce and online services advance to keep up with the changing needs of individuals. Recently developed terms and conditions for online shopping are one of the main contributors that enable individuals to fulfil their desires with ease. Consequently, we observe an increasing demand for parcel delivery services globally. In less than a decade, global parcel shipping volume almost tripled, reaching over 131 billion parcels delivered in 2020. Yet, this is only the beginning of an internationally expanding industry. By 2026, this market is expected to reach over 260 billion parcels delivered. In 2020, firms operating in the global parcel shipping market generated over 429 billion U.S. dollars in revenue. Cooperation between e-commerce firms and parcel delivery companies seem to work smooth such that customers can often order with no additional charge for delivery. For instance, in a 2020 survey, roughly 61 percent of respondents stated that cross-border online commerce services offer a type of free delivery.

Cross-country parcel shipping volume

Despite the fact that global parcel shipping volume increases, there is a huge variation between countries based on the volume of parcel shipping. In less-developed market economies, parcel delivery services are still at their infancy levels. In 2020, China was the leading market for parcel shipping, with over 83 billion parcels delivered. The second-largest market was the U.S., with over 20 billion parcels, which was followed by Japan with 9.1 billion parcels delivered. In the fiscal year of 2020, over six billion parcels were received and sent by mail in the U.S.