Ecommerce has continued to drive the expansion of the global parcels market which was worth nearly US$350 billion in 2017, up $40 billion on the year before.
The numbers, published by Apex Insight in its Global Parcel Delivery Market Insight 2018, suggest that Asia Pacific accounts for around 40% of the market whilst North America and Europe represent just over 50%.
Global online sales approached US$2.3 trillion last year, having grown at a rate of 25% a year, with the US, UK, China and Japan the biggest markets.
The report says that leading online retailers are increasingly taking control of and better investing in delivery whilst carriers are investing in improving their information systems.
Apex Insight says that the market will continue to grow over the next five years, driven by continued online retail growth both in already strong markets and less mature markets. It says that the ongoing globalisation of supply chains, with increased reliance on just-in-time production leading to ever higher dependence on parcel carriers, would also have an impact.
Image credit: Fotolia
