Pitney Bowes Parcel Shipping Index Confirms Extended Effects of COVID-19 Lockdowns on Chinese Shipping Through 2022

Pitney Bowes Inc. (NYSE: PBI), a global shipping and mailing company that provides technology, logistics, and financial services, today released their Global Parcel Shipping Index, unveiling ‘22 data from 13 major countries worldwide. The Index highlights that global parcel volume reached 161 billion in ‘22, equivalent to 5,102 parcels shipped every second marking a 1 percent increase from ‘21. Notably, the Index reveals China’s parcels experienced the slowest growth in its history, reaching 111 billion parcels in ‘22, with only a 2 percent increase.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230809471409/en/

The Index estimates parcel volume will most likely reach 225 billion by 2028, with a 6% CAGR ‘23-’28, a change from 8% forecasted last year.

“China parcel volume had maintained a double-digit growth rate every year from ‘13 to ’21. However, in ‘22, COVID-related lockdowns caused a sharp slowdown,” stated Gregg Zegras, Executive Vice President, Global Ecommerce at Pitney Bowes. “As the world’s second-largest economy, China is experiencing a frail pace of growth during its COVID recovery. We’re seeing volume slowdown, declining ecommerce sales, and an overall weak economy, projecting a 7 percent parcel volume CAGR ’23 -‘28.” Pre-pandemic China parcel volume forecast was 25 percent CAGR ‘18-’22 and actual volume growth was lower, at 22 percent CAGR ‘18-’22.

Over the past seven years, global parcel volume surged by 150 percent from 64 billion parcels in ‘16 to 161 billion in ‘22. In ‘22, India led with the highest increase at 18 percent driven by ecommerce expansion, while Italy (4 percent), China (2 percent) Australia (2 percent) and Brazil (2 percent) also showed growth. However, Sweden and Canada experienced significant declines at –11 percent and –9 percent respectively.

In '22, global parcel revenue declined by 1 percent to $485 billion, impacted by strong USD and its increase in value compared to other currencies in the Index.

Only the US, Brazil, India, and Australia saw growth in parcel revenue, with the US leading in carrier revenue with 7 percent growth in ‘22. Revenue per parcel varied significantly, with Canada highest at $9.8, followed by the US at $9.3 and France at $9.1. Despite lower volume, the US generated more revenue than China due to a significantly higher fee per parcel – almost seven times that of China. China's revenue per parcel is $1.4, the lowest globally, followed by India at $1.7 and Norway at $1.9.