Almost five billion small packages entered the EU last year.

Omissions

• The MEP stated 'nearly five billion' but the European Commission's own data reports the 2025 figure as 'close to 5.9 billion items' — a difference of approximately 0.9 billion or 18%. The actual volume is substantially closer to 6 billion than to 5 billion.
• The MEP did not cite a specific source for the figure. If relying on older or rounded estimates, these understate the scale of low-value e-commerce imports by a significant margin.
• The European Commission page does not display a precise publication date, but its data covers the full year 2025 and was publicly accessible before the May 2026 session.

Sources

• PrimaryEuropean Commission — Taxation and Customs UnionAt the end of 2025, the volume had reached close to 5.9 billion items. Between 2024 and 2025, the growth was still 26%. Low-value consignments represent 97.9% of imported items with an average value of €8.82 per item.
• SecondaryWTS KlientBy the end of 2025: approximately 5.9 billion consignments. In 2025: 97.9% of all imported items fell into this category, while accounting for only 2.1% of total customs value.
• SecondaryAduana NewsAccording to data from the European Commission, around 4.600 billion small parcels entered the European market in 2024, 91% of which originated from China.