Vietnam's delivery market value to hit $4.9 bln by 2030: global research firm

Vietnam’s courier, express and parcel services market could exceed $4.9 billion in value by 2030, registering an annual growth rate of up to 23.8%, according to Research and Markets.

The market was valued at $710 million in 2021 and reached $900 million last year, the global market research company wrote in its “Vietnam Courier, Express and Parcel Services Industry Research Report 2023-2032" released on Thursday.

Vietnam’s courier sector offers a range of services including same or next-day delivery, international delivery, and specialized services such as refrigerated transport of perishable goods. Courier services in the country, home to 100 million people, use a variety of transportation methods, including motorcycles, trucks and airplanes, to ensure fast and efficient deliveries.

Vietnam's retail e-commerce market was estimated at $16.4 billion in 2022, according to the Ministry of Trade and Industry, accounting for 7.5% of the country's total retail market sales and the second highest percentage of online shopping in Southeast Asia after Singapore.

The compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of Vietnam's e-commerce retail sales from 2018-2022 reached 19.3%. In 2022, Shopee, Lazada, Tiki, and Sendo were the top four e-commerce platforms in Vietnam with total revenue of VND135 trillion ($5.75 billion), according to Research and Markets.

Vietnam's e-commerce industry is ranked by international market research firm eMarketer as one of the top 5 countries in the world with an annual growth rate of 20%.

According to the 2022 Vietnam E-Commerce White Paper, the country’s e-commerce industry set a number of annual records last year. The number of online shoppers in Vietnam reached 57 million for the first time in 2022, and 74.8% of Vietnam's internet users shopped online.

In addition, for the first time, Vietnam's online shopping transactions reached $260-285 per capita, and the market share of business-to-customer e-commerce in Vietnam's total retail sales of consumer goods and services reached 7.5%.

Retail sales of e-commerce will reach $50.94 billion in 2032 and the 2023-2032 period’s CAGR is likely to hit 12%, said Research and Markets.

Currently, Vietnam's retail market size is about $250 billion, providing vast space for e-commerce development. The Vietnamese government has proposed a target to increase the share of e-commerce sales to 20% of the total.

According to the Vietnam E-Commerce White Paper 2022, Vietnam's e-commerce market will reach $39 billion by 2025, ranking second in Southeast Asia in terms of growth. The fast-expanding e-commerce sector will provide opportunities for the country's foreign and local logistics services, particularly courier services.

The Vietnam E-Commerce and Digital Economy Agency (iDEA) predicts that the e-commerce market will reach $23 billion by 2025. According to Ministry of Trade and Industry estimates, by 2025, the number of online shoppers will account for about 55% of the country's total population and average annual spending will reach $600.

A.P. Moller Capital, a global fund manager focused on high-growth markets, and VinaCapital, Vietnam’s most diversified asset manager, announced on May 22 they had established a joint platform to grow and scale investments in transportation and logistics infrastructure in Vietnam. The pair explained that with a population of 100 million, a consistent GDP growth rate of over 5%, and a strong and stable regulatory and investment climate, Vietnam offers clear high-growth opportunities in transportation and logistics.

A.P. Moller Capital, which is part of the global logistics giant A.P. Moller Group, is a value-add infrastructure fund manager focused on the logistics and transportation sectors.

"Logistics is a critical part of Vietnam’s economic growth story,” said VinaCapital chief investment officer Andy Ho.

He stressed that the new joint platform will invest in promising Vietnamese logistics companies to contribute to the sector’s growth and development.

This February, IFC, the largest global development institution focused on the private sector in emerging markets, announced a new partnership between the World Bank arm and two Southeast Asian companies, with more than $2 billion to be invested in Vietnam’s logistics industry over the next five years.

The IFC said it will help Singapore’s YCH Group and Vietnam’s T&T Group develop a bankable and sustainable logistics hub near Hanoi by providing technical expertise, helping the developers mitigate risks, and strengthening environmental and social standards.

The multimodal logistics hub, called Vietnam SuperPort and located in Vinh Phuc province, is being developed by T&Y Superport Vinh Phuc JSC, a joint venture between YCH and T&T.

Vietnam remains an attractive market for foreign investors and manufacturers and is set to rise as one of the manufacturing hubs in Asia, potentially replacing China as "a factory of the world" in the future, Chan Yoke Ping, CEO of the joint venture, told The Investor earlier this year.

She said Vietnam has become a destination for supply chain diversification to reduce global overreliance on one country and scale up production across multiple suppliers and regions.