Pitney Bowes Parcel Shipping Index Reveals India Leading Global E-commerce Surge with 18% Parcel Volume Growth in 2022

Pitney Bowes Inc. (NYSE: PBI), a global shipping and mailing company that provides technology, logistics, and financial services, today released the new Parcel Shipping Index, featuring 2022 data from 13 major countries around the world. Coming off two-years of pandemic-fuelled growth, India’s parcel volumes increased to 18% in 2022 from 8% in 2021. India is leading the pack with the highest growth in parcel volumes, surpassing all other countries measured in the Index, including the US, UK, China, Germany, Japan, Italy, Australia, Brazil, Sweden, Norway, France, and Canada. This remarkable achievement is a testament to India’s booming ecommerce industry and its focus on embracing digital transformation.

In 2022, India shipped, received, and returned 3.2 billion parcels, surpassing the expectations of pre-pandemic forecasts. This staggering figure represents a substantial increase from the 8% growth witnessed in 2021, illustrating the accelerated momentum of ecommerce activities. With an average of 8.8 million parcels shipped each day, amounting to 102 parcels per second, India demonstrates its position as a thriving market for both domestic and international parcel shipping. The per capita parcel volume in India experienced a substantial surge, from a single-digit 7% increase in 2021 to an impressive 16% growth 2022. This surge translated to an average of 10 parcels shipped per household in 2022, reflecting the growing reliance on ecommerce for the daily needs of Indian families.

“After a sharp decline in parcel volume at -21% in 2020 and marginal growth of 8% in 2021, it’s fitting to see India’s recovery with the highest surge in global parcel volume at 18%, indicating a future brimming with opportunities for India’s ecommerce ecosystem,” said Pankaj Sachdeva, Managing Director, India Innovation, Pitney Bowes. “The substantial increase in India’s per capita parcel volume further demonstrates the growing reliance on ecommerce for the daily needs of Indian families”.

The Index further revealed that the global parcel volumes increased by 1% in 2022, impacted largely due to the lockdowns in China. China parcels grew at the slowest rate in Index history, hitting 111 billion parcels in 2022, marking only a 2% growth due to lockdowns and COVID outbreaks. China’s parcel volume had grown at a CAGR of 23% CAGR ’17- ‘22.  Pre-pandemic China parcel volume CAGR ‘18-22 forecast was 25% and actual CAGR ‘18-22 was 22%.

The Index estimates parcel volume in India will most likely reach 5 billion by 2028, with a 6.5% CAGR ‘23-’28.

Overall, all in India carriers saw an increase in revenue in 2022 from 2021. SafeEx generated the highest revenue of $874 million with YOY growth of 12%, followed by BlueDart at $855 million and Delhivery at $634 million, DTDC at $512 million, followed by Amazon Logistics at $498 million.

Key takeaways for India from the latest Index include:

• Carrier Volume:
  • Parcel volume in India increased by 18% in 2022 from 8% in 2021
  • By volume, DTDC shipped 337 million parcels in 2022 up from 274 million in 2021; Amazon shipped 330 million parcels in 2022, up from 296 million; and SafeEx shipped 535 million, up from 446 million
  • Delhivery recorded 14% growth with its parcel volume at the 665 million, up from 583 million
  • The combined parcel volume from smaller carriers outside the top four, included in the ‘Others’ category, grew by 20%

• Carrier Revenue:
  • Carriers collectively generated $5,392 million in parcel revenue, a 3% increase year-over-year when measured in USD from $5,2140 million in India
  • SafeEx generated the highest carrier revenue with $874 million, followed by BlueDart ($855 M), Delhivery ($634 M), DTDC ($512 M), Amazon Logistics ($480 M), and the combined revenue from ‘Others’, reached $1,947 M.
  • ‘Others’ witnessed a drop in revenue by -4.5%
  • Amazon generated a 6% increase in revenue at 29% CAGR ‘16-’22, DTDC saw 15% growth with 20% CAGR ‘16-’22 and SafeEx 12% with 19% CAGR ‘16-’22

• Carrier Market Share:
  • By volume, Delhivery generated the highest parcel market share of 21% followed by SafeEx (17%), DTDC (11%) and Amazon (10%)
  • By revenue, BlueDart & SafeEx generated 16% each, followed by Delhivery (12%), Amazon & DTDC with 9% each

Key findings from the latest Parcel Shipping Index include: 

• Parcel volume reached $161 billion in 2022, up 1% from $159 billion in 2021
• 5102 parcels shipped per second compared to 5052 in 2021
• Parcel revenue reached $485 billion, down 1% from $489 billion in 2021
• Highest CAGR ‘17- ‘22 for parcel volume was generated by China at 23% followed by Brazil at 20%
• Highest CAGR ‘17-’22 for parcel revenue was generated by China at 17% followed by the US at 13% and by Italy at 12%
• China remains the largest parcel volume market, contributing to the slow volume growth in 2022 due to its unprecedented low 2% parcel volume increase
• United States remains the market with the highest carrier revenue, reaching $198 billion, an increase of 7% from 2021.
• While there is a direct alignment between parcels per person and GDP per capita in the US, Germany, Brazil, and India, parcels in China, Japan, and the UK exceed GDP, most likely due to significant exports. In Norway, Sweden, and Australia there is a reverse effect, with low parcels per person compared to GDP, suggesting a fairly low penetration of ecommerce.

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 Macrotrends.net. 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 shipping and mailing company that provides technology, logistics, and financial services to more than 90 percent of the Fortune 500. Small business, retail, enterprise, and government clients around the world rely on Pitney Bowes to remove the complexity of sending mail and parcels. For the latest news, corporate announcements and financial results visit https://www.pitneybowes.com/us/newsroom.html. For additional information visit Pitney Bowes at www.pitneybowes.com.