Market Monitoring
This page provides information about developments in the German postal market and its individual segments: letter, courier, express and parcel services.
- Market data
- Annual survey
- Market studies
- International letter price comparison
- Parcel price comparison
In addition to current market data they also provide background information on market developments and the Bundesnetzagentur's specific fields of work and activities. Up-to-date information about developments in the postal market is also available in the Bundesnetzagentur's reports.
Market data
Market data provides an overview of developments in the postal markets. The data is collected annually from the postal operators, evaluated, graphically processed and made available for downloading.
Revenue and employees in the postal markets in 2021
Revenue, breakdown of revenue, volume and shares in the licensed letters market
Revenue trends in the courier, express and parcels market by segment/parcel and express volumes
Parcels market revenue and volumes
Annual survey
The Bundesnetzagentur provides an annual report to the Bundestag and the Bundesrat on the situation in and development of the postal sector in accordance with section 47(1) of the German Postal Act (Postgesetz/PostG).
To carry out this task the Bundesnetzagentur is entitled to request information from companies and corporations active in the postal sector about their economic situation, including their revenue figures (section 45 I para 2 PostG).
The Bundesnetzagentur conducts an annual market survey to complete this statutory task, collecting information about the conveyance of letters up to 1,000 grams and about other postal services as well.
There is an online market survey portal that enables data to be gathered and transmitted quickly, simply and securely. At the beginning of the market survey, all postal operators receive a letter requesting them to transmit their data.
Market studies
The Bundesnetzagentur uses the data obtained through the market survey to assess developments in the postal markets. The results of these assessments are included in the Bundesnetzagentur's periodical reports. For special circumstances or for individual aspects of market developments the Bundesnetzagentur conducts special studies, which are available here to all interested parties.
2022
Parcels Market Report (January 2023) (pdf / 493 KB)
Letters Market Report (January 2023) (pdf / 620 KB)
2021
Parcels Market Report (May 2022) (pdf / 387 KB)
International letter price comparison
The Bundesnetzagentur regularly compares international prices for standard, compact, large and maxi-size letters. Each report published presents the criteria for selecting the countries, the data used and the findings.
The Postal Act (PostG) sets out the criteria for determining rates that are eligible for approval: To calculate an appropriate profit mark-up, account must be taken in particular of the profit margins of those companies that are comparable in structural terms with the applicant company and are active in other European countries in markets that are comparable with the licensed sector and open to competition (section 20(2) sentence 2 PostG).
A total of 31 European comparison countries are included in the reports.
Report "Comparison of letter prices in Europe 2023" (April 2023)" (pdf / 708 KB)
Report "Comparison of letter prices in Europe 2022" (April 2022)" (pdf / 1 MB)
Parcel price comparison
The parcel price comparison is intended to be a source of information both for the classification of the domestic parcel prices charged by market participants operating nationwide and for the assessment of prices by international comparison.
In addition to letters, universal service also covers parcels up to 20 kg for private customers.
While the letters market in Germany is characterised by a slow but steady decline in mail volumes, the parcel market continues to gain momentum. Digitisation and e-commerce have already fostered steady growth in the past two years. In contrast to the letters market, which is characterised by a lack of nationwide end-to-end competition, five large market participants that have their own network infrastructure are active in the parcel market. They account for 85% of the revenue share.
Due to the distribution of revenue shares between the market participants in the parcel market and the provision of end-to-end services in the private customer segment, it is possible to conduct a national comparison of the parcel prices that market participants charge for domestic parcels. As is the case with the letter price comparison, the parcel price comparison includes an international comparison of universal service providers.
Report "Parcel price comparison for Germany and Europe" (December 2022)" (pdf / 3 MB)
Report "Parcel price comparison for Germany and Europe" (November 2021)" (pdf / 3 MB)