Last-mile delivery is the final movement of a parcel to a recipient, but the available market data often measures the broader parcel system. The statistics below therefore identify whether a figure describes a last-mile proxy, a carrier segment, a company-wide network, a literature estimate or a forecast.
Key Last Mile Delivery Statistics
The following figures summarize the most useful measures across U.S. parcel scale, carriers, economics, emissions and outlook:
- In 2023, 21.7 billion parcels moved through the U.S. parcel market.
- In 2022, 21.5 billion parcels were recorded in the U.S. parcel market.
- In 2023, U.S. parcel volume grew 0.5% from 2022.
- In 2023, 165 parcels per U.S. household were estimated.
- In 2023, 65 parcels per person in the United States were estimated.
- In 2023, USPS handled an estimated 6.6 billion U.S. parcels.
- In 2023, Amazon Logistics handled an estimated 5.9 billion U.S. parcels.
- In 2023, UPS handled an estimated 4.6 billion U.S. parcels.
- In 2023, FedEx handled an estimated 3.9 billion U.S. parcels.
- In 2023, USPS held 31% of U.S. parcel volume.
- In 2023, Amazon Logistics held 27% of U.S. parcel volume.
- In 2023, UPS held 21% of U.S. parcel volume.
- In 2023, FedEx held 18% of U.S. parcel volume.
- In 2023, U.S. parcel-carrier revenue reached $197.9 billion.
- In 2024, UPS averaged 22.4 million packages delivered per day globally.
- In FY2024, FedEx Express averaged $23.87 in composite revenue per package.
- Literature cited in a 2022 peer-reviewed article places last-mile cost at 28% of total delivery cost.
- In 2022, transportation accounted for 29% of U.S. greenhouse-gas emissions in the cited EPA presentation context.
- Pitney Bowes forecast 28.3 billion U.S. parcels for 2028 in its later forecast series.
Contents
- U.S. parcel volume and household scale
- Carrier delivery data and market shares
- Revenue, package economics and trends
- Last-mile costs and operating efficiency
- Emissions and freight impacts
- Forecasts and post-pandemic outlook
U.S. Parcel Volume and Household-Scale Delivery Data
The Pitney Bowes U.S. Parcel Shipping Index recorded 21.7 billion U.S. parcels in 2023, compared with 21.5 billion in 2022. Its reported year-over-year increase was 0.5%.
The index is a parcel-shipping measure rather than a count of final-leg doorstep stops. It is useful as a last-mile market proxy, but its scope includes shipping, receiving, returns, sorting and line-haul activity.
| Measure | Result | Period and scope |
|---|---|---|
| Parcel volume | 21.7 billion | U.S., 2023 |
| Parcel volume | 21.5 billion | U.S., 2022 |
| Year-over-year volume change | 0.5% | U.S., 2023 vs. 2022 |
| Parcels generated | 687 per second | U.S., index-derived 2023 rate |
| Average daily equivalent | 59.3 million parcels | U.S., index-derived 2023 average |
The index estimated 687 parcels generated every second and 59.3 million generated per day in 2023. These are annualized or index-derived rates, not measured daily dispatch counts or proof that each parcel reached a residence that day.
At the household and population level, the index estimated 165 parcels per U.S. household and 65 parcels per person in 2023. Those allocations include shipping, receiving and returns context and are not survey measures of individual delivery behavior.
The 2023 U.S. volume was reported as 0.4 billion parcels above the index’s pre-pandemic forecast. That difference compares an observed 2023 result with a 2019 forecast and should not be treated as a causal estimate.
Source: Pitney Bowes U.S. Parcel Shipping Index.
Carrier Delivery Data and U.S. Market Shares
Pitney Bowes estimated the 2023 U.S. parcel volumes of four major carriers as follows:
| Carrier | 2023 parcel volume | 2023 parcel-volume share |
|---|---|---|
| USPS | 6.6 billion | 31% |
| Amazon Logistics | 5.9 billion | 27% |
| UPS | 4.6 billion | 21% |
| FedEx | 3.9 billion | 18% |
These are index estimates within the Pitney Bowes scope. USPS shipping and package definitions may differ from other USPS series, while Amazon Logistics, UPS and FedEx figures are not presented as identical financial-statement measures.
The same comparison shows how network scale differs from a single company’s reporting perimeter. UPS separately reported an average of 22.4 million packages delivered per day in 2024 and 5.7 billion packages delivered during 2024 across its global network.
The UPS figures are company-wide network measures, not a separately reported last-mile segment and not a U.S.-only count. They should therefore not be directly substituted for the Pitney Bowes U.S. market estimates.
Source: Pitney Bowes U.S. Parcel Shipping Index and FedEx Q4 FY24 Statistical Book.
Last Mile Delivery Revenue, Package Economics and Trends
The Pitney Bowes index placed U.S. parcel-carrier revenue at $197.9 billion in 2023, down 0.3% from 2022. Carrier revenue is broader than delivery-cost expenditure alone, so it should not be read as the price of the final delivery leg.
Its 2022 revenue-share comparison assigned 37% to UPS, 33% to FedEx, 16% to USPS and 12% to Amazon Logistics. These percentages describe carrier revenue rather than parcel-volume share, making the two market views non-interchangeable.
| Revenue measure | Share | Period and geography |
|---|---|---|
| UPS | 37% | U.S. parcel-carrier revenue, 2022 |
| FedEx | 33% | U.S. parcel-carrier revenue, 2022 |
| USPS | 16% | U.S. parcel-carrier revenue, 2022 |
| Amazon Logistics | 12% | U.S. parcel-carrier revenue, 2022 |
FedEx’s statistical book provides a separate view of package economics in its Express segment. FedEx Express total average daily packages declined from 6.681 million in FY2021 to 5.463 million in FY2024, while total U.S. package volume declined from 3.283 million per day in FY2021 to 2.663 million per day in FY2024.
In FY2024, FedEx Express reported U.S. package-volume growth of -4.4%, international export volume of 1.030 million packages per day, a composite yield of $23.87 per package, and an average of 13.0 pounds per package. The yield is a carrier measure, not a consumer delivery price or isolated last-mile cost.
For FY2024, FedEx Express reported U.S. overnight box revenue of $27.82 per package, overnight envelope revenue of $16.88 per package and deferred revenue of $18.98 per package. It operated 256 weekdays for the annual statistics series, which is an operating-calendar denominator rather than a delivery-day measure for every customer.
Source: Pitney Bowes U.S. Parcel Shipping Index and FedEx Q4 FY24 Statistical Book.
Last-Mile Delivery Costs and Operating Efficiency
Last-mile cost shares vary with the boundary used for “delivery cost,” the supply-chain stages included and the operating conditions studied. A peer-reviewed 2022 LMaaS article cites literature estimating the last mile at 28% of total delivery cost, more than 40% of total supply-chain cost and, under some conditions, 50% of total logistics cost.
Those percentages are literature estimates and should not be treated as one universal last-mile average. They describe different cited studies and boundaries, not a single measurement of every parcel network.
| Cited literature measure | Estimate | Important scope |
|---|---|---|
| Last mile as a share of total delivery cost | 28% | Literature estimate cited in a 2022 article |
| Last-mile cost as a share of total supply-chain cost | More than 40% | Definitions and boundaries vary |
| Last-mile cost as a share of total logistics cost | 50% | Reported under some conditions |
A 2009 peer-reviewed route-efficiency study examined customer density as a determinant of delivery efficiency and also addressed delivery-window patterns. The source page confirms the study factors, but the supplied evidence does not provide a universal measured effect size, so customer density should be treated as a studied operational variable rather than a quantified industry-wide result.
Carrier yields provide context for the money attached to different service categories, but they are not the same as route cost. FedEx Express’s FY2024 U.S. package measures—$27.82 for an overnight box, $16.88 for an overnight envelope and $18.98 for deferred service—are revenue-per-package figures.
Sources: Last-mile-as-a-service (LMaaS): An innovative concept for the disruption of the supply chain, The Last Mile Challenge: Evaluating the Effects of Customer Density and Delivery Window Patterns, and FedEx Q4 FY24 Statistical Book.
Last-Mile Delivery Emissions and Freight Impacts
The available emissions figures describe transportation and vehicle categories broader than parcel-only last-mile delivery. In the cited EPA presentation context, transportation produced about 60% of U.S. nitrogen-oxide emissions and 29% of U.S. greenhouse-gas emissions.
On-road heavy- and medium-duty trucks accounted for around 50% of transportation-sector nitrogen-oxide emissions. Within the HD/MD truck category, heavy-duty line-haul trucks accounted for around 60% of nitrogen-oxide emissions and around 65% of greenhouse-gas emissions, while vocational vehicles accounted for around 20% of greenhouse-gas emissions and delivery and service vehicles around 15%.
| Emissions measure | Share | Scope |
|---|---|---|
| Transportation NOx | About 60% | U.S. emissions, EPA presentation context |
| Transportation greenhouse gases | 29% | U.S. emissions, EPA presentation context |
| On-road HD/MD truck NOx | Around 50% | Transportation-sector NOx |
| Line-haul truck greenhouse gases | Around 65% | HD/MD-truck greenhouse gases |
| Delivery and service vehicle greenhouse gases | Around 15% | HD/MD-truck greenhouse gases |
EPA’s 2022 action plan reported that light-duty vehicles accounted for 49% of U.S. transportation greenhouse-gas emissions, while medium- and heavy-duty vehicles accounted for 21%. The categories include passenger vehicles, freight trucks, larger pickups, delivery and work vans, refuse vehicles and buses, so neither percentage isolates parcel delivery.
These boundaries matter when interpreting “last-mile emissions.” A delivery van can be part of a broader vehicle category, while line-haul trucks and passenger vehicles may dominate the sector totals without representing the final leg to a household.
Source: Electrification in the Urban Environment: Making Room for Express Delivery.
Last-Mile Delivery Forecasts and Post-Pandemic Trends
Pitney Bowes projected 22.7 billion U.S. parcels for 2024, 24.1 billion for 2025, 25.7 billion for 2026, 27.0 billion for 2027 and 28.3 billion for 2028. These are forecasts from the later 2024–2028 series, not observed delivery volumes.
| Forecast year | Projected U.S. parcels | Status |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 22.7 billion | Forecast |
| 2025 | 24.1 billion | Forecast |
| 2026 | 25.7 billion | Forecast |
| 2027 | 27.0 billion | Forecast |
| 2028 | 28.3 billion | Forecast |
The index’s pre-pandemic forecast for 2028 was 26.1 billion parcels, compared with 28.3 billion in the later forecast series. For 2024, the comparable figures were 22.3 billion in the pre-pandemic forecast and 22.7 billion in the later series; these are comparisons between forecasts made at different times, not measured growth rates.
FedEx Express operating statistics show the pandemic-era shift and subsequent contraction in its total package-volume growth: 11.6% in FY2021, -7.1% in FY2022 and -10.1% in FY2023. The FY2021 result carries pandemic-era base effects, and these fiscal-year company figures cover FedEx Express rather than the entire last-mile market.
By FY2024, FedEx Express total U.S. package-volume growth was -4.4%. Together, the carrier series and Pitney Bowes forecasts show why market-scale projections and company operating statistics should be read as related but different measures.
Source: Pitney Bowes U.S. Parcel Shipping Index and FedEx Q4 FY24 Statistical Book.