Do you remember the days when shopping, no matter what you were shopping for, meant going to the store?
Whether it was for groceries, clothes, or anything else, shopping used to require driving and going into a storefront.
Nowadays, there are alternative ways to shop. While you can still shop in-store, a large number of people shop online instead.
In fact, nearly 1.92 billion people were online shoppers by the end of 2019. By the year 2021, it is estimated that almost 2.14 billion people will be shopping online. That’s almost 30 percent of the entire world population!
Pioneering the eCommerce industry are the word’s three largest online marketplaces: Taobao, Tmall, and Amazon.
Of the three, you’ve most likely used (or at least heard of) Amazon. With great prices, an easy shopping experience, and guaranteed expedited shipping that comes free with Amazon Prime, online shopping has never been more attractive.
With the boom of the eCommerce industry, courier (package shipping and delivery) services are in high demand. After all, e-commerce packages need a way to make it to their destination once they’ve been purchased online.
As you can imagine, there are tons of packages being delivered every day. In fact, USPS processes 20.2 million pieces of mail every single hour!
But, what do the stats say about a year?
If millions of packages are delivered each and every day in the U.S. alone, the number of packages shipped and delivered each year must be out of this world, right?
Indeed, it is.
To get a clear picture of just how much the eCommerce and courier industries have expanded, we’re going to look at some of the industry trends.
To start, let’s take a look at just how many packages are shipped and delivered each year… in the U.S., in Europe, and in the world.
Package Delivery Statistics: Global View
On a worldwide scale, the parcel courier delivery industry continues to grow at an exponential rate.
This growth, of course, follows the continuing expansion of the eCommerce industry, with more and more people deciding to purchase online instead of in-store.
In fact, the eCommerce industry is growing by approximately 9.8 percent each year.
According to research performed by Pitney Bowes, the global volume for parcel delivery reached nearly 87 billion. This is a massive increase of 10.8 percent from 2017 and 104 percent compared to the year 2014.
When it comes to the volume of packages delivered each year, China comes out on top with approximately 51 billion packages shipped in 2018.
The United States, on the other hand, saw approximately 13 billion packages shipped in the same year.
Other countries with high package delivery volume were Japan (with 9 billion packages shipped annually), Germany, and the UK (which both had around 3.5 billion packages shipped each year). India came in at 2.5 billion a year.
According to the same report by Pitney Bowes, the figure for the total number of packages delivered each year is expected to more than double over the next few years and expected to reach nearly 200 billion packages annually by 2025. By the end of this year alone, the report suggests that the global package delivery number will be well over the 100 billion mark.
Even in countries with unstable economies, such as Brazil, still see considerable increases in package delivery volume. Let’s take a look at statistics by country.
Brazil
Brazil continues to see a sizable increase in package delivery volume, regardless of economic conditions.
In 2018, 738 million parcels were delivered. This was a 25 percent increase compared to the previous year.
The rise in the total number of packages delivered in Brazil is being fueled by both an increase in online shopping and a growing trend of buying products using a mobile device.
Canada
In Canada, the number of packages delivered has only slightly increased compared to 2017, with 1.1 billion packages delivered in 2018.
One of Canada’s largest parcel delivery services, Canada Post, delivered 296 million packages in 2018 alone, according to a report published on Statista.
United States
In terms of revenue generated, the U.S. came in on top, with $119 billion in 2018. As for package deliveries made, the U.S. shipped 13 billion packages in 2018 compared to 12 billion in 2017. Here are a few statistics for the United State’s yearly package deliveries:
- According to research by Strategy, a strategy consulting business, the number of packages delivered annually in the United States is expected to rise from 11 billion in 2018 to about 16 billion by the end of 2020.
- A research report published on Statista states that the USPS (United States Postal Service) delivered 142 billion packages in 2019 alone.
- As a new face in the courier industry, Amazon now delivers more than half of its customer orders. This resulted in 2.1 billion packages delivered in the U.S. in 2019.
Europe (including France, Germany, Norway, Italy, UK, and Sweden)
Year after year, Europe has seen a steady increase in package delivery volume, averaging 5 percent increases each year.
In 2018, France saw about 1.3 billion packages being delivered. In the same year, Germany had 3.5 billion, Italy had 865 million, Norway had 61 million, and Sweden had 127 million. The UK managed to generate about $15 billion in revenue.
- In 2018, the United Kingdom saw 53 packages shipped yearly per capita (per person).
- According to the study by Pitney Bowes, Italy’s year-after-year growth of 10.4 percent is due to increased investments by the government in revolutionizing the country’s digital infrastructure to keep on-pace with the rest of Europe.
Australia
With an average yearly growth of a little over 10 percent, Australia’s courier industry is indeed on the rise. In 2018, there were 864 million parcels delivered.
- As of February of 2019, more than 80 percent of people in Australia were shopping online. By 2021, that number is expected to rise to more than 85 percent or roughly 22 million online shoppers.
- Every year, Australia’s annual package delivery rises by 6.4 percent. By 2021, it is expected to grow to more than 1 billion packages delivered yearly.
China
When it comes to online shopping and package deliveries, China leads the world in sheer volume. In 2018, the country had about 51 billion packages shipped and delivered. This was a large increase compared to 2017, with 40 billion packages shipped and delivered.
- In 2018, China accounted for more than half of the world’s total packages delivered, with over 50 billion packages. This equates to roughly 36 packages per person per year in China.
- By the end of 2019, specifically on December 16, China reached 60 billion packages delivered in that year alone. This equates to nearly 42 packages per person, a sizable increase compared to last year.
- According to Pitney Bowes’ study, China, the U.S., and Japan represented 83 percent of the global package volume in 2018.
Japan
Unlike the other markets, Japan’s package delivery numbers actually decreased by 2 percent in 2018. Still, the country had 9 billion packages delivered that year and saw an increase in revenue by about 13 percent.
- Although Japan’s volume of packages delivered is stagnant, it currently stands as one of the top three markets (countries) in terms of revenue generated.
Conclusion
No matter what region of the world we look at, more and more packages are being delivered every single year.
This growth of package delivery services is fueled by the massive and rapid growth in the eCommerce industry, as well as continued advancements in technology and each country’s online infrastructure.
Buying online has become the go-to form of shopping for many people. It is quick, fast, and mobile-friendly, allowing you to shop from your cell phone on the go. This aligns with today’s ever-busy society, where people are always looking to get more things done in a shorter period of time.
On a global scale, the number of packages delivered each year is expected to climb to 200 billion by the year 2025. China currently leads in the total yearly volume of delivered packages, accounting for about half of the entire world’s yearly numbers. Countries such as the United States, Japan, and Europe make up a large part of the rest of the yearly total.
As technology becomes more readily available to smaller countries and as economies improve, we can only expect to see the annual number of packages delivered worldwide grow exponentially.
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