German parcel industry expects record numbers for Christmas

The German Parcel and Express Logistics Association (BIEK) announced on Tuesday that the industry expects parcel deliveries to private households during this year's Christmas season to grow by 15 to 20 percent, reported Xinhua.

According to BIEK, deliveries during the Christmas season in November and December would increase by around 60 million parcels to around 420 million. The maximum on a single day could reach up to 21 million deliveries.

In order to cope with the volume of deliveries, about 30,000 additional workers would be employed by logistics companies in Germany during the Christmas season, according to BIEK.

The courier, express and parcel industry in Germany had already recorded a "significant growth" in the first half of the year due to COVID-19 while the volume of deliveries increased by 7.4 percent year-on-year during this period, according to BIEK.

"The leap in shipment volumes during the coronavirus pandemic clearly shows how important parcel services are for the population and the economy. In the crisis, always in lockdown, they ensure that people are supplied," said Marten Bosselmann, chairman of BIEK, in a statement on Tuesday.

For the entire year 2020, BIEK, founded in 1982, is expecting more than 3.9 billion deliveries and an increase in revenues to over 23 billion euros.