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Pitney Bowes Parcel Shipping Index Reports Global Parcel Shipping Reaches $279 Billion in Revenue

08/28/2018
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Pitney Bowes Says Global Shipping Volume To Surpass 100 Billion Parcels in 2020

STAMFORD, Conn., August 28, 2018 - The Pitney Bowes Parcel Shipping Index, released today, reports that parcel shipping generated USD $279 billion in revenue last year, an increase of 11 percent over 2016. Pitney Bowes Inc. (NYSE: PBI), a global technology company that provides commerce solutions in the areas of ecommerce, shipping, mailing, and data, compiled the industry’s most comprehensive parcel shipping report along with shipping-related insights across 13 countries representing 3.7 billion people.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180828005237/en/

Parcel volume globally grew 17 percent last year to 74.4 billion parcels, up from 63.6 billion in 2016. This was in the 17-28 percent growth projection range given in last year’s Pitney Bowes Parcel Shipping Index. On average, there were 22 parcels shipped per person globally, and 2,300 parcels shipped every second.

China once again reported the largest parcel volume growth at 28 percent year-over-year (YOY). If we exclude China from the Index, the global growth number drops from 17 percent to 6 percent.

“China continues to have the greatest impact on the growing shipping market in terms of absolute scale and growth,” said Lila Snyder, President, Commerce Services at Pitney Bowes. “Globally, ecommerce continues to drive growth in all regions. Global ecommerce giants continue to raise the bar, resetting consumer expectations when it comes to shipping. As retailers and marketplaces race to keep up with increasing consumer expectations, carriers must create efficient, seamless services that deliver in a world of ‘fast and free’ ecommerce shipping.”

The Index expects global shipping volume to surpass 100 billion parcels in 2020 in aggregate across the 13 countries reviewed: Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Norway, Sweden, United Kingdom and the United States.

View the Pitney Bowes Shipping Index interactive map and infographic to learn more.

Topline Trends Across Countries

  • China’s Parcel Volume Triples United States’: China (40.1 billion), the United States (11.9 billion), and Japan (9.6 billion) represented the top three countries for parcel shipping volume in 2017. China’s parcel shipments represent 53 percent of the total shipments in the Pitney Bowes Parcel Shipping Index.
  • United States Tops Shipping Revenue: The United States ranks highest in parcel shipping revenue at $107 billion, generating 38 percent of the total revenue of the 13 countries. China ($73 billion) and Japan ($25 billion) follow. The average shipping price of a parcel is $8.95 in the US, compared to $1.83 in China and $2.64 in Japan.
  • China’s Parcel Growth Continued to Soar: Despite slower parcel volume growth from the previous four years, China represents the largest market in parcel volume growth at 28 percent YOY. India (11 percent) and Sweden (9 percent) followed.
  • Japanese Residents Receive the Most Packages: Japan tops per capita shipping with 76 parcels shipped per person in 2017. The UK follows at 48 parcels shipped per person, and then Germany at 41 parcels.

Key Findings by Region

Americas (Brazil, Canada, United States)

  • Brazil, parcel volume grew 6 percent YOY in 2017 with volume reaching 664 million parcels and 3 parcels shipped per person.
  • Canada, parcel volume grew by 5 percent year-over-year to 1.1 billion parcels or 30 parcels per person.
  • United States shipped 11.9 billion parcels, up 8 percent YOY. This represents an average of 37 parcels shipped per person for the year.

Europe (France, Germany, Italy, Norway, Sweden and United Kingdom)

  • France grew 5 percent YOY, shipping 18 parcels per person with a total volume of 1.2 billion parcels shipped in 2017.
  • Germany shipped an average of 41 parcels per person, reaching a total of 3.4 billion parcels. Parcel volume grew 6 percent YOY.
  • Italy shipped a total of 759 million parcels growing at 5 percent YOY and 12 parcels shipped per person.
  • Norway parcel shipping dipped 1 percent YOY, with a total volume of 56 million parcels shipped at 11 parcels per person in 2017.
  • Sweden grew 9 percent YOY with a total volume of 113 million parcels and 11 parcels shipped per person in 2017.
  • United Kingdom shipped a total of 3.2 billion parcels in 2017, growing 8 percent YOY, which represented 48 parcels shipped per person.

Asia Pacific (Australia, China, India, Japan)

  • Australia shipped 841 million parcels at 34 parcels per person an 8 percent increase YOY.
  • China’s parcel volume reached 40.1 billion in 2017, or 1,270 parcels shipped each second. With the highest parcel volume in the study, China is up 28 percent YOY shipping 29 parcels per person in 2017.
  • India shipped just 1 parcel per person in 2017, yet grew 15 percent YOY reaching a total of 1.5 billion parcels shipped.
  • Japan shipped 76 parcels per person in 2017 with YOY growth at 2 percent and a total parcel volume shipped at 9.6 billion.

About the Pitney Bowes Parcel Shipping Index

The Pitney Bowes Parcel Shipping Index measures parcel volume and spend for business-to-business, business-to-consumer, consumer-to-business and consumer consigned shipments with weight up to 31.5kg (70 pounds) across Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Norway, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States. Population data points were sourced from the International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Database published in October 2017. The Pitney Bowes Parcel Shipping Index spans 13 countries and represents the parcel shipping activity of 3.7 billion people.

About Pitney Bowes

Pitney Bowes (NYSE:PBI) is a global technology company providing commerce solutions that power billions of transactions. Clients around the world, including 90 percent of the Fortune 500, rely on the accuracy and precision delivered by Pitney Bowes solutions, analytics, and APIs in the areas of ecommerce fulfillment, shipping and returns; cross-border ecommerce; presort services; office mailing and shipping; location data; and software. For nearly 100 years Pitney Bowes has been innovating and delivering technologies that remove the complexity of getting commerce transactions precisely right. For additional information visit Pitney Bowes, the Craftsmen of Commerce, at www.pitneybowes.com.

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