The pandemic has led to a sharp increase in the number of items coming to Cyprus by international couriers, according to data published by the Office of Electronic Communications & Postal Regulations (OCECPR) on Wednesday.

According to the data, incoming items in 2020 exceeded 1.9 million, while in 2021 they exceeded 2.4 million, marking an increase of 47% compared to 2019, when they reached 1.64 million. The increase corresponds to 0.8 item per inhabitant, since in 2019 incoming courier items amounted to 1.87 per inhabitant, while in 2021 they reached 2.63.

A corresponding increase was recorded in incoming micro-parcels delivered by the Cyprus Post Office. In 2019 these amounted to 1.7 million, while in 2021 they rose to 2.3 million, recording a 35% increase.

For outgoing international courier services, the public preferred Cyprus Post by 10% in 2021. The market share of the Cyprus Post Office in the last 10 years varies from 6% in 2020 up to 15.9% in 2010. The largest market share is held by DHL, with its percentages in the last ten years ranging over 40% of the market.

Calculating market shares based on the total turnover of all providers for 2021, Cyprus Post prevailed with 32%, DHL with 14%, followed by GAP Akis Express and ACS Air Courier Services with 13% each.

It is noted that there is a downward trend in the turnover of the universal postal service, since it decreased from €30.8 million in 2008 to €19.5 million in 2021, losing a third of its value.

Finally, the majority of complaints, as registered by the providers in a OCECPR questionnaire, concern pricing and delivery time.