Dutch cross-border parcels: 12% more volume, 5.7% more revenue

Among parcel delivery industry trends, a rising parcel count is easy to quote and easy to misread. You might expect a busier carrier network to produce a smaller bill for your shop. The Dutch regulator’s figures show why that conclusion needs more work. A market’s revenue per parcel can fall while an individual merchant pays more. Understanding the gap helps you ask better questions when comparing carrier offers or moving a small stock batch closer to customers.

How can parcel volume grow faster than parcel revenue? #

The ACM Post and Parcel Monitor 2024 announcement, published in June 2025, reports 12% growth in international parcel volume and 5.7% growth in the corresponding revenue. More items therefore shared revenue that increased at a slower pace. To calculate the average change, divide the growth factors rather than subtracting the two percentages.

The difference between 12% and 5.7% is 6.3 percentage points. That is not the percentage fall in unit revenue, because the two growth rates operate on different bases. The ratio gives the relevant result. Round it to about 5.6% when discussing the trend, and preserve the formula in your worksheet so another person can check what you meant.

Why is average carrier revenue different from your shipping price? #

A national average combines different customers, routes, package formats and services. It can change when the mix changes, even without the same change applying to every individual price. If additional volume consists mainly of services with lower revenue per item, the overall average falls. The headline alone does not identify whether your own service became cheaper or whether your commercial terms changed at all.

ACM links part of the international development to the popularity of Asian webshops sending lower-priced parcels. That is a market-mix explanation, not an offer addressed to your business. Your shop might ship a different size, use a different destination or buy a different service. Treat a supplier’s market comparison as background, then ask for a quote that matches your actual consignment profile.

Carrier reporting adds another useful perspective without replacing the regulator. In its 2025 financial review, PostNL attributes parcel revenue development to volume growth and price increases while describing the product and customer mix as unfavourable. A carrier can face several forces at once. Do not interpret one company’s operating segment as a complete national market or turn its commentary into a price commitment for your shop.

What does the newer 2025 Dutch update change? #

The ACM 2025 monitor announcement, published on 18 June 2026, reports 447 million cross-border parcels, up 7.4%, while domestic parcel volume grew 0.9%. These observations describe 2025. They do not update the 2024 revenue-per-parcel calculation unless you also obtain matching 2025 revenue data for the same international scope.

This difference matters when you choose an origin for local stock. Rapid international activity can reflect a country’s role in moving goods across borders, rather than equivalent growth in purchases delivered to local households. Ask whether the statistic describes imports, exports, domestic traffic or a combination. Your local stock decision needs evidence about your customers’ destinations and the actual dispatch route, not merely activity passing through a country.

Keep a separate row for each year and each flow. Do not put the newer volume observation under the older revenue percentage and calculate a fresh unit trend. If a required observation is missing, leave the result uncalculated. An explicit gap is more useful than a precise-looking percentage assembled from different periods. You can still use the newer volume figures as context while your matched cost comparison stays based on actual quotes.

Does the Dutch locker expansion mean home delivery is disappearing? #

ACM’s 2025 update reports 9,309 parcel lockers, up 90.6%. It also reports 82.2% of parcels delivered at home, 12.4% collected at service points and 5.3% through other locations such as lockers. The last category is broader than lockers alone. Do not label it a pure locker share, and do not mistake a fast-growing infrastructure count for the same growth in delivered parcel share.

For your checkout, this is a reason to distinguish network availability from customer behaviour. You may want to offer another delivery option, but the national figures do not establish its conversion rate for your customers. Measure selection and completion for the services you actually offer. Also distinguish where your packing partner hands over a parcel from where the customer receives it; the two ends can use different types of location.

How can your own parcel mix raise costs without a fee increase? #

Use preparation as a transparent example, keeping the carrier label outside the calculation. AirPost’s recommended fees differ by parcel category, and a sender sets their own actual fee. A shop moving from predominantly small parcels to more medium parcels can therefore see its average preparation budget rise while neither category’s planning amount changes. The same mathematical principle explains why aggregate market revenue needs a mix check.

The AirPost constants checked on 19 October 2026 give €0.85 as the platform component, €2.25 as the recommended small-parcel preparation fee and €3.00 for a medium parcel. Combining platform and preparation gives €3.10 for the small category and €3.85 for the medium category. These are explicit budgeting assumptions, not complete label-inclusive shipping prices or promises of what a particular person will charge.

The average of these two components rises from €3.10 to €3.30 per parcel. No price increase was needed to produce the €60.00 monthly difference. Replace the illustrative quantities and recommended fees with your actual parcel counts and agreed amounts before budgeting. The point is to separate a changed basket from changed unit prices.

How do you test a shipping offer against these industry trends? #

1. 1

   Freeze the shipment basket

   Choose actual origins, destinations, packed weights and dimensions. Keep the same basket for every offer you compare.

2. 2

   Separate changed prices from changed quantities

   Calculate what the old basket would cost under the new offer, then calculate what the new basket costs. Keep those effects in separate columns.

3. 3

   Add the complete preparation arrangement

   Include the agreed packing fee, material, stock transfer and any extra work. Identify whether a displayed label already contains the platform component.

4. 4

   Check the physical handover

   Confirm the chosen origin and service are actually bookable, and agree how parcels reach the carrier.

5. 5

   Review the first real batch

   Compare invoice amounts and actual dispatch work with the estimate. Investigate exceptions before increasing inventory.

AirPost’s local preparation model lets a shop place a small batch of stock with a person who packs orders and takes parcels to a parcel point. It does not turn an aggregate Dutch trend into a discounted label. The webshop fulfilment page explains the arrangement. Ask for an ID check before sending stock and agree what the preparation fee includes.

Use our average shipping cost calculation guide to keep route weighting explicit. The European parcel shipping cost comparison gives another starting point for route research, with current services checked before booking. Your useful result is a matched cost per shipment for your own basket, rather than a claim that every merchant should receive the national average.