BERLIN (dpa-AFX) - German citizens received significantly fewer parcels last Christmas than industry experts had expected. In November and December, around 395 million parcels were delivered to private individuals in Germany, 20 million fewer than forecast last fall, the Bundesverband Paket & Expresslogistik (Biek) announced in Berlin on Thursday, referring to an analysis by KE-Consult. A Biek spokeswoman justified the lower figure with the purchasing restraint of consumers - this had made itself more noticeable than initially assumed.

Christmas is the most important time of the year for parcel companies. Sales promotions such as Black Friday at the end of November boost consumption, and the closer Christmas Eve gets, the more intensively many consumers search for gifts on the Internet. Package volumes are correspondingly high.

After strong growth years in Corona times, the parcel industry took a breather, so to speak, last Christmas season. In the 2021 Christmas business, there had been 440 million shipments - much more than before. The 395 million in the 2022 Christmas business is still a significantly higher level than before the Corona pandemic: in November and December 2019, 366 million items had been sent to private individuals in Germany./wdw/DP/mis