ComReg: Revenue for Ireland’s main parcel delivery service providers decreased by 1% last year

New figures published by the Irish postal regulator, ComReg, reveals income for the seven main providers of parcel delivery services in Ireland including An Post, DPD and DHL in 2023 was down €7.7 million on the previous year.

However, the latest figures also show the actual quantity of parcels delivered by the seven operators was up 1% on 2022 levels to 140.73 million.

It is the third highest annual volume of parcels on record after the years covering the height of the Covid-19 pandemic with figures peaking in 2021 with 161.9 million parcels being delivered.

The domestic element of the market performed strongly last year with revenue from parcels sent and delivered within the Republic up €9.6 million on 2022 levels to €373.8 million – an annual increase of 3%.

The growth was driven by a 6% increase in volumes with an extra 5.2 million domestic parcels being delivered during 2023.

A total of 88.2 million domestic parcels were dispatched with the sector accounting for 43% of the total parcel market by revenue and 63% by volume.

In contrast, there was a reduction in revenue and volume for both the inbound and outbound segments of the market last year.

Revenue from the delivery of parcels sent from outside Ireland fell 2% in 2023 to €316.7 million with related volumes down 6% to 42.6 million parcels.

Outbound parcel traffic is relatively low compared to other market segments with volumes remaining relatively static in previous years.

Last year, the delivery of parcels sent from Ireland abroad was worth €176.9 million – down 7% on 2022 levels.

The volume of parcels with senders in Ireland and receivers outside the country was also down 7% to 9.9 million parcels.

The latest figures indicate a stabilisation in the overall parcel market following a number of years where revenues and volumes soared due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The regulator’s report uses data from 2018 to 2023, collected from seven service providers under the European Cross Border Parcel Regulation.

The report includes data from An Post, DPD, DHL, FedEx, UPS, Fastway, and GLS.

ComReg noted in the report: “The data presented in this report is in aggregate form given that the individual information by PDSPs is considered confidential and commercially sensitive…. The insights and trends do not necessarily reflect the individual performances of each of the seven PDSPs.”