Amazon software platform, Sellics, has released a study revealing the price of sending a package via local express shipping around the globe. As shipping and the various costs involved are such vital aspects of any e-commerce business, the software platform decided to investigate if the cost of shipping differs hugely from country to country.
The results determine if there are some locations which have an advantage when it comes to their shipping infrastructure. This new data is the second component of a study released earlier this year, revealing the best cities around the world to launch an online business.
The research compares the cost of local express shipping in 40 countries (G20 nations plus EU countries*), looking at the price of shipping a standard package from the countries’ largest cities, in terms of population size.
The data looks at the prices from the world’s three biggest shipping companies, UPS, DHL and Fedex, as well as local shipping companies in each market. For the purpose of this study, a standard package is defined as 46cm (L), x 31.5cm (W) x 9.5cm (H) with a weight of 2kg.
The study uses ‘Express Shipping’ defined as within 1-2 business days or less in all cases, assuming that an e-commerce business would want to stay competitive with their customers who are used to fast, often next-day delivery. The final table ranks each country by the least to most expensive to ship a standard package.
The final results table below reveals the average delivery costs and the % deviation between the worldwide average. A positive percentage indicates that the cost is more expensive, while a negative deviation shows that the cost is less expensive than the average.
| Rank | Country | Average Delivery Cost by Local Express Shipping, USD | % Deviation of Local Shipping Costs Compared to World Average |
| 1 | Romania | 3.65 | -71.96% |
| 2 | Indonesia | 3.87 | -70.25% |
| 3 | Bulgaria | 3.88 | -70.18% |
| 4 | Turkey | 4.44 | -65.91% |
| 5 | China | 4.76 | -63.38% |
| 6 | Austria | 4.79 | -63.17% |
| 7 | Latvia | 5.6 | -56.94% |
| 8 | South Korea | 5.79 | -55.49% |
| 9 | Cyprus | 5.88 | -54.84% |
| 10 | Hungary | 5.99 | -53.97% |
| 11 | Czech Republic | 6.23 | -52.08% |
| 12 | Belgium | 6.28 | -51.77% |
| 13 | Croatia | 6.9 | -46.94% |
| 14 | Slovakia | 7.02 | -46.07% |
| 15 | Japan | 7.51 | -42.31% |
| 16 | Russia | 8.75 | -32.71% |
| 17 | Switzerland | 8.96 | -31.13% |
| 18 | South Africa | 8.97 | -31.06% |
| 19 | Lithuania | 9.99 | -23.18% |
| 20 | Portugal | 10.21 | -21.51% |
| 21 | Mexico | 10.24 | -21.33% |
| 22 | Estonia | 10.57 | -18.79% |
| 23 | Spain | 10.77 | -17.21% |
| 24 | Poland | 10.87 | -16.48% |
| 25 | Slovenia | 11.69 | -10.11% |
| 26 | Malta | 13.12 | 0.85% |
| 27 | Sweden | 13.47 | 3.53% |
| 28 | Greece | 13.67 | 5.06% |
| 29 | Canada | 13.95 | 7.23% |
| 30 | Italy | 14.72 | 13.13% |
| 31 | Denmark | 16.83 | 29.33% |
| 32 | Finland | 18.14 | 39.44% |
| 33 | Ireland | 20.42 | 56.98% |
| 34 | United Kingdom | 21.78 | 67.41% |
| 35 | Saudi Arabia | 22.66 | 74.18% |
| 36 | Germany | 23.85 | 83.29% |
| 37 | Australia | 26.4 | 102.89% |
| 38 | France | 26.5 | 103.72% |
| 39 | Netherlands | 27.9 | 114.42% |
| 40 | United States | 63.2 | 385.78% |
The following table reveals the local cost of shipping per 1,000 km, for a different comparison:
| # | Country | Destination to Destination | Distance (in km) | Cost per 1,000 km, Next Day Delivery by Local Post, USD |
| 1 | China | Shanghai to Beijing | 1071.1 | 4.45 |
| 2 | Indonesia | Jakarta to Surabaya | 666 | 5.81 |
| 3 | South Africa | Cape Town to Durban | 1270.7 | 7.06 |
| 4 | Romania | Bucharest to Cluj-Napoca | 323.7 | 11.27 |
| 5 | Turkey | Istanbul to Ankara | 321.4 | 13.8 |
| 6 | Russia | Moscow to St. Petersburg | 634.1 | 13.81 |
| 7 | United States | New York City to Los Angeles | 3936.9 | 16.05 |
| 8 | South Korea | Seoul to Busan | 323 | 17.93 |
| 9 | Spain | Madrid to Barcelona | 505.1 | 21.32 |
| 10 | Mexico | Mexico City to Guadalajara | 461.8 | 22.16 |
| 11 | Slovakia | Bratislava to Košice | 312.7 | 22.44 |
| 12 | Saudi Arabia | Riyadh to Jeddah | 847 | 26.75 |
| 13 | Croatia | Zagreb to Split | 256.8 | 26.88 |
| 14 | Canada | Toronto to Montreal | 506 | 27.57 |
| 15 | Bulgaria | Sofia to Plovdiv | 134.4 | 28.86 |
| 16 | Latvia | Riga to Daugavpils | 191.2 | 29.3 |
| 17 | Hungary | Budapest to Debrecen | 195.2 | 30.68 |
| 18 | Italy | Rome to Milan | 477 | 30.86 |
| 19 | Austria | Vienna to Graz | 144.8 | 33.09 |
| 20 | Czech Republic | Prague to Brno | 186.6 | 33.41 |
| 21 | Sweden | Stockholm to Gothenburg | 396.8 | 33.95 |
| 22 | Australia | Sydney to Melbourne | 713.4 | 37 |
| 23 | Portugal | Lisbon to Porto | 275.3 | 37.09 |
| 24 | Switzerland | Zurich to Geneva | 224.1 | 39.98 |
| 25 | France | Paris to Marseille | 660.6 | 40.12 |
| 26 | Poland | Warsaw to Kraków | 252 | 43.12 |
| 27 | Greece | Athens to Thessaloniki | 303.1 | 45.1 |
| 28 | Estonia | Tallinn to Tartu | 163.6 | 64.58 |
| 29 | United Kingdom | London to Manchester | 262.4 | 83 |
| 30 | Ireland | Dublin to Cork | 219 | 93.26 |
| 31 | Germany | Berlin to Hamburg | 255.6 | 93.29 |
| 32 | Cyprus | Nicosia to Limassol | 60.4 | 97.28 |
| 33 | Denmark | Copenhagen to Aarhus | 156.3 | 107.65 |
| 34 | Lithuania | Vilnius to Kaunas | 91.9 | 108.76 |
| 35 | Slovenia | Ljubljana to Maribor | 104 | 112.45 |
| 36 | Belgium | Brussels to Antwerp | 42.7 | 146.96 |
| 37 | Japan | Tokyo to Yokohama | 30.6 | 245.28 |
| 38 | Netherlands | Amsterdam to Rotterdam | 57.8 | 482.64 |
| 39 | Finland | Helsinki to Espoo | 16.1 | 1126.79 |
| 40 | Malta | Birkirkara to Qormi | 2.1 | 6248.11 |
“A decade or so ago, consumers could choose between free or fast shipping. Nowadays, large companies have the shipping infrastructure to combine these two elements. Therefore, if businesses want to stand a chance at success, then they need to consider how the location of their venture might have an impact on the kinds of shipping charges they could incur.” says Franz Jordan, CEO at Sellics.
“This data shows that shipping prices vary massively around the world, giving some nations advantages over others. For example, local shipping in the United States is exponentially more expensive than the majority of other European and G20 countries analysed.” Jordan concludes.
