Market share of couriers and local delivery services worldwide 2021

This statistic represents the global market share of express and courier service providers in 2021. In that year, United Parcel Service (UPS) held a global market share of about 23 percent. 

Express and courier service providers' global market share

In most countries, the state once held a monopoly on mail services. Traditionally, governmental agencies have long managed the delivery of letters and parcels. Only very recently have policymakers begun to rid the public sector of such duties, although governments often retain a controlling minority stake. Germany’s Deutsche Post, for example, went public in 1995 and changed its name to Deutsche Post DHL in 2009. La Poste of France went public in 2010. In the United States, the UPS remains responsible for providing postal service but, despite collaboration with FedEx, finds itself in competition with private package delivery services.

In light of the world’s growing digitization, the courier industry has adopted the use of new technologies to track vehicles and parcels. In addition to that, parcel processing systems able to sort through 20,000 packages in one hour have made the industry more efficient. Satellite computer systems have also improved the state of monitoring Internet-connected courier fleet trucks. While letter volumes are in decline due to the ubiquity of electronic messaging, courier services remain the beneficiaries of growing online retail sales.