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BTU’s calculations from two annual Geostat releases show that revenue from domestic parcel services in Georgia grew by approximately 24.3% in 2025, compared with 11.0% for international parcel services. International business still dominates, but the growing domestic share makes delivery relevant not only to bringing goods across borders, but also to connecting sellers and buyers within Georgia.

Key Takeaways

• BTU’s calculations using Geostat’s rounded 2024–2025 figures put annual domestic parcel-service revenue at approximately GEL 50.3 million and GEL 62.5 million, respectively: growth of 24.3%, against 11.0% for international parcel services.
• Geostat reports that domestic services generated 29.7% of parcel-service revenue in 2025, up from 27.4% in 2024. International services still generated 70.3%; these shares describe delivery-service revenue, not merchandise sales.
• BTU’s model-based analysis of retail and consumer decisions treats delivery as a factor that changes which sellers are practically available to a buyer. Assessing the market therefore requires considering product choice, inventory location and receiving arrangements together.

A product displayed online becomes a practical alternative for a customer only when receiving it is feasible. Behind that simple distinction lies an important question for Georgia’s consumer market: which sellers can actually compete for a purchase? The answer need not be confined to shops within walking or driving distance. Delivery can extend a seller’s potential market and give a buyer access to products beyond the local assortment. How far that opportunity extends depends on the network and the service offered.

On 21 October, Geostat published its 2025 survey results for postal and courier enterprises. The release makes it possible to examine this question through the structure of the sector. BTU compared the new figures with the same survey’s 2024 results and separated parcel-service revenue into domestic and international components. The domestic component remains smaller, but it is growing faster in percentage terms. Geostat – postal and courier activities, 2025 Geostat – postal and courier activities, 2024

Where the additional revenue came from

Total postal and courier revenue reached GEL 273.8 million in 2025, against GEL 228.7 million in 2024. That total includes written correspondence and other services as well as parcels. Its growth alone therefore cannot tell us what changed in the business of moving items. Parcels accounted for 76.8% of sector revenue in 2025, compared with 80.2% a year earlier.

BTU’s calculation uses two successive steps. Total sector revenue is multiplied by the parcel share; the resulting amount is then allocated using the published domestic and international shares of parcel revenue. Estimated parcel-service revenue consequently rises from approximately GEL 183.4 million to GEL 210.3 million. Within that category, domestic revenue increases from approximately GEL 50.3 million to GEL 62.5 million, while international revenue rises from GEL 133.2 million to GEL 147.8 million.

Parcel-service revenue in Georgia

Source: Geostat’s 2024 and 2025 releases; BTU calculations. All amounts are approximate because published totals and shares are rounded. Figures represent nominal service revenue, not merchandise value. Geostat – postal and courier activities, 2025 Geostat – postal and courier activities, 2024

Domestic growth of approximately 24.3% substantially exceeds the international rate of 11.0%. The changing balance is also visible in the domestic share of total parcel revenue, which increased by 2.3 percentage points. Domestic services have a greater weight in this market than they had a year earlier.

However, the larger international base generated approximately GEL 14.7 million of additional revenue, compared with GEL 12.2 million domestically. Faster percentage growth does not yet mean a larger contribution in additional lari, nor does it mean international services are being displaced. Both components grew. Their relative weights changed. Keeping market size and growth rates separate is important for businesses deciding where opportunities lie.

These estimates are approximate because the releases publish rounded amounts and percentages. They describe nominal revenue, which can change with service volumes, tariffs, shipment characteristics and the mix of services sold. The data do not isolate each factor’s contribution. Domestic revenue growth therefore cannot automatically be attributed to more households placing more online orders.

What the parcel market includes

Geostat defines a domestic item as one sent and delivered within the country. International services cover movement in either direction: items sent to another country or received from abroad. Revenue means receipts from selling postal and courier services, excluding VAT and excise. It is not the value of the goods inside the parcels. Food home-delivery services are excluded from this survey. Geostat – survey methodological metadata

The releases also report 16.4 million parcels sent in 2025 and 13.3 million in 2024, an increase of approximately 23.3%. This is a separate measure of sector scale, not a count of unique buyers. One person can generate several shipments, and items can serve personal or business needs. The figures do not establish online retail turnover or the availability of delivery in a particular Georgian region.

Together, the figures show an expanding service market and a stronger domestic component. The significance of that change becomes clearer when it is connected to the different ways sellers and buyers can reach one another.

Competition extends beyond the shop’s address

Domestic delivery can separate the location where stock is held from the location where the customer receives it. A small seller cannot necessarily maintain premises near every potential buyer. A delivery network offers another connection. For a larger chain, a branch can serve as a selling space, a place to inspect products and a collection point. These are different commercial functions that a simple online-versus-offline distinction cannot adequately describe.

Domestic delivery does not necessarily mean domestically produced goods. An imported item already held in a Georgian warehouse can travel to its buyer entirely within the country. Growth in domestic services can therefore matter to manufacturers, importers, small retailers and large chains alike. The competitive question concerns not only where a product originated, but also where it is available and how it reaches the final customer.

International services’ continuing dominance does not eliminate this opportunity. It reminds us that the delivery market connected to Georgia combines domestic and cross-border movements. A local seller may offer advantages through stock already nearby, opportunities to inspect an item or a different way of receiving it. The official figures do not determine how many sales any of those advantages generated. They identify a direction for analysis that must be tested against an individual business’s actual results.

Different stages of a purchasing decision

BTU’s retail and e-commerce research materials divide the customer journey into connected decisions: discovering a product, evaluating its features, paying, receiving it and, where necessary, returning it. The cross-category decision framework adds the risk of the purchase and the evidence needed to make it. Synthesising these model-based materials suggests that classifying a person simply as an online shopper or a physical-store shopper is too crude.

A buyer can discover an item online, inspect it in person and have it delivered home. Another may need to reorder a familiar product without visiting a shop. These differences matter in different ways for electronics, clothing, books, household goods and repeat purchases. Sometimes the unresolved question is whether an item is suitable; sometimes it is whether it can be received when needed. Delivery development can consequently change physical retail as well as support online sales.

BTU’s model-based analysis distinguishes waiting, accepting a substitute and switching sellers when a product is unavailable. That distinction explains why the location of inventory belongs within an analysis of consumer choice. If a nearby shop lacks the required item, another seller accessible through delivery can become a practical alternative. The central issue is the customer’s specific need and the actual terms of the purchase, rather than assigning everyone the same delivery speed or a fixed behavioural label.

This is why changes in the parcel market matter beyond couriers and digital platforms. They also concern businesses previously dependent mainly on customers entering their premises. Delivery can change the set of feasible competitors. Whether a business benefits depends on its available assortment and whether customers can receive it on acceptable terms.

A larger service market, uneven consumer participation

Sector expansion should also be considered alongside differences in consumer participation. Geostat’s 2026 household ICT survey found that 38.6% of internet users aged 15 and above had purchased or ordered goods or services online within the preceding 12 months. The figure was 42.7% in urban areas and 31.0% in rural areas. Published on 2 September, this is a separate household study, not an extension of the postal enterprises’ 2025 results. Geostat – household ICT, 2026

Those figures describe digital ordering as an important but uneven part of Georgia’s market. They include services that need no parcel at all, so they cannot provide a direct causal explanation for postal revenue growth. Reading the sources together serves a different purpose: businesses can see both an expanding delivery-service market and consumers with differing relationships to purchasing channels.

Georgia’s changing parcel market signals neither the disappearance of international commerce nor the end of physical shops. BTU’s calculation identifies a more specific shift: within a market still dominated by international services, domestic parcel revenue is growing faster and gaining weight. The potential consumer benefit is a wider set of feasible sellers. The business opportunity is a form of market access not tied solely to opening another branch. How broadly those gains are shared depends on actual service geography and conditions.

Questions and Answers

Does 24.3% growth mean consumers bought that many more goods?

No. Approximately 24.3% is the growth in nominal domestic parcel-service revenue. It can reflect changes in service volumes, prices and composition; it does not independently measure growth in merchandise purchases.

Does domestic delivery cover only Georgian-made products?

Domestic means an item is sent and delivered within Georgia. It can have been made locally or imported earlier; the classification does not identify its origin.

Why should an ordinary shop care?

Delivery can connect a shop with customers beyond those who visit its premises. In BTU’s analytical assessment, online selection, in-person inspection and delivery elsewhere can form parts of the same commercial relationship.

Are international services losing business?

Their share of parcel-service revenue fell, but their revenue grew by approximately 11.0% and still represented 70.3% of the category in 2025. A declining share is not the same as a shrinking business.