Global parcel growth plummeted in 2022 says Pitney Bowes
Parcel volume growth slowed dramatically to 1% and revenues declined in 2022
Only India, Italy, China, Australia and Brazil experienced parcel volume growth in 2022 according to the Pitney Bowes Global Parcel Shipping Index of 13 major countries, as the overall market faces a major slowdown following on from the COVID boom.
Overall, the Index found that the number of parcels shipped grew just 1% Year-on-Year (YoY), while revenues in the sector also fell 1% to $485 billion, although authors note that part of this change is strength in the US dollar relative to other currencies.
Revenue growth was limited to just a handful of countries, led by the US, where high general rate increases allowed 7% revenue growth in 2022. Brazil, India, and Australia also saw shippers able to increase rates and revenue growth.
Even though China’s market expanded overall, the research highlighted the country as being at the forefront of the slowdown, as the 2% increase was the slowest growth recorded.
“As the world’s second-largest economy, China is experiencing a frail pace of growth during its COVID recovery,” said Gregg Zegras, Executive Vice President, Global Ecommerce at Pitney Bowes. “We’re seeing volume slowdown, declining e-commerce sales, and an overall weak economy, projecting a 7% parcel volume CAGR from 2023 to 2028.”
Overall, Pitney Bowes estimates that global parcel volume reached 161 billion items in 2022, and expects volume to reach 225 billion by 2028, but this represents a decline for its forecasted Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR), declining from the 8% forecasted last year to a 6% CAGR projection in 2023.
Mirroring wider economic trends, India has blown past China’s growth rate and recorded the fastest expanding market, at an 18% clip in 2022. This is far above other growing markets as Italy was the next fastest at 4%.