The continuous growth in the number of parcels in the postal services market

In the last quarter of 2023, there was a 20.3% growth in parcel services compared to the same period last year.

ZAGREB, March 6, 2024 - In the postal services market in the Republic of Croatia, there has been a continuous increase in the number of parcels for some time now. In the last quarter of 2023, a total of 10.7 million parcel services were provided, which is the highest number of such services to date. This increased the share of parcel services in the total market to 16.4%, which is over three percent higher than in the same period last year. This trend is largely associated with changes in consumer habits and purchasing methods, specifically the increase in the volume of e-commerce where postal services are an integral part of the merchant-customer chain. The growth trend is also visible in international traffic, where in the last quarter of 2023, the number of services increased by 26.7% annually, thus increasing the share of international traffic by two percent.

At the same time, the total number of postal services is expectedly decreasing, with 3.2% fewer services compared to the same period last year. Throughout the entire last year, the total number of services decreased even more significantly, by 3.7%.

Revenue from providing postal services has been increasing for the third consecutive quarter, reaching €86.2 million in the fourth quarter, which is 18.8% higher than in the same period last year. The revenue in the last quarter is the highest ever recorded in one quarter, primarily due to a larger number of parcel services and value-added services (express shipments), which increased by about 17%, and to a lesser extent due to price increases for certain services. Revenues also increased annually, reaching €308 million during the past year, which is 10.6% higher than the year before.

At the end of last year, postal services were provided by 24 providers, with the largest being HP-Hrvatska pošta d.d., holding an 85% market share in terms of the number of postal services provided and 56.4% in terms of total market revenue.

Data on the postal services market in the third quarter are available on the website of the Croatian Regulatory Authority for Network Industries (HAKOM) at the following link.