Global growth steady overall but very mixed
The following data describing the economic parameters are based on S&P Global Market Intelligence.
Real global economic growth remained more or less steady in 2025 at just under 3%, with disruptions to global trade flows offset by growth momentum from increased investment in AI infrastructure. Support for consumer spending also came from additional monetary policy easing by leading central banks and from the stabilization of inflation as well as medium-term inflation expectations in the European Union at around 2%. Despite the continued uncertainty due to the volatile geopolitical environment, fixed investment in Europe recovered quite markedly, albeit driven primarily by additional public spending on defense and infrastructure. European industrial activity was overall negatively affected by new US tariffs and ongoing structural impediments. It only started to pick up in the final months of 2025.
Real global growth in gross domestic product (GDP) increased slightly from 2.8% in 2024 to 2.9% in 2025. GDP growth in the advanced economies remained steady at 1.9%, while the euro-zone developed stood out positively with growth accelerating from 0.9% to 1.5%. The latter was due not least to Germany’s return to positive growth of 0.3% (previous year: –0.5%). GDP growth in the United States weakened from 2.8% to 2.2%. There was little change in the emerging markets, where growth climbed from 4.2% to 4.3%. Growth in China remained steady at 5.0%.
Macroeconomic tailwind still weak
Growth in global industrial production and global trade remained subdued in the 2025 fiscal year. Real industrial production grew by 2.4% after a 1.0% rise in 2024. International companies saw their real export volumes increase by 4.1%, compared with 3.3% in the previous year. This once again produced only a slight year-on-year rise in demand and volumes in the logistics sector. For DHL Group, this was reflected chiefly in the development of B2B volumes in the Express and Global Forwarding, Freight divisions.
E-commerce confirms structural growth trend
The shift from traditional retail business to e-commerce as a result of changing consumer behavior continued in 2025, confirming the long-term structural growth trend in e-commerce-based transactions. For DHL Group, expanding and optimizing e-commerce logistics services therefore remains an important component of the growth agenda as part of Strategy 2030. The trend was reflected at DHL Group chiefly in the development of B2C volumes in the Express and eCommerce divisions as well as in parcel volumes for Post & Parcel Germany.
Legal environment
The Group provides some of its services in regulated markets. Many of the postal services rendered by Deutsche Post AG and its subsidiaries (particularly the Post & Parcel Germany division) are subject to sector-specific regulation under the Postgesetz (PostG – German Postal Act). Information regarding this issue and legal risks is contained in note 46 to the consolidated financial statements.
