Freight Forwarding Market - Global Industry Size, Share, Trends, Opportunity, and Forecast, 2021-2031

The Global Freight Forwarding Market is projected to expand from USD 236.21 Billion in 2025 to USD 338.31 Billion by 2031, reflecting a compound annual growth rate of 6.17%. This industry entails the strategic organization of freight movement on behalf of shippers, utilizing a variety of transport modes to ensure goods efficiently reach their final destinations. Key factors driving this growth include the intensification of international trade fueled by globalization and the rising demand for optimized supply chain management. Furthermore, the growth of cross-border e-commerce necessitates capable logistics intermediaries to manage complex customs regulations and ensure timely deliveries, thereby boosting market demand.

However, geopolitical instability poses a significant challenge that may hinder market expansion by disrupting established trade routes and causing volatility in operational costs. This uncertainty complicates capacity planning and impedes the seamless flow of global commerce, forcing companies to frequently adapt to changing restrictions. Despite these hurdles, specific sectors remain resilient; for instance, the International Air Transport Association reported that global air cargo demand rose by 9.4 percent in September 2024 compared to the same month in the previous year.

Market Drivers

The surge in cross-border e-commerce serves as a major catalyst for the Global Freight Forwarding Market, fundamentally reshaping logistics requirements. As consumers increasingly order products from international marketplaces, forwarders must reconfigure their networks to handle high-frequency, time-sensitive parcel shipments. This shift has significantly increased reliance on air cargo services to meet modern retail delivery speeds while necessitating advanced tracking capabilities. Highlighting this trend, the International Air Transport Association's 'Air Cargo Market Analysis' from July 2024 noted a 14.7 percent year-over-year rise in global air cargo demand for May 2024, driven by e-commerce growth and maritime shipping constraints. To support this volume, the industry is scaling infrastructure, with available cargo tonne-kilometers increasing by 6.7 percent in May 2024.

Concurrently, the growth in international trade volumes and globalization remains a core driver of market expansion. Despite geopolitical difficulties, the recovery of merchandise trade is revitalizing demand for freight forwarding services across sea and land routes. Forwarders are essential in navigating this recovering trade environment, managing customs brokerage, and optimizing multimodal transport solutions for exporters re-establishing global connections. This recovery offers a stable revenue baseline, moving beyond pandemic-era volatility. According to the World Trade Organization's April 2024 'Global Trade Outlook and Statistics' report, world merchandise trade volume is projected to grow by 2.6 percent in 2024, signaling a robust recovery that underpins the industry's trajectory.

Market Challenges

Geopolitical instability presents a substantial barrier to the progress of the global freight forwarding market by introducing unpredictability into established logistics networks. When conflicts erupt in key transit regions, operators are forced to abandon standard shipping lanes in favor of longer, more secure routes, which increases transit times and operational expenses. This volatility complicates the ability of freight forwarders to guarantee delivery schedules and forces companies to divert capital toward covering fluctuating insurance and fuel surcharges rather than investing in volume growth.

The disruption of critical maritime chokepoints illustrates the severity of this issue on trade flows. According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, weekly container ship transits through the Suez Canal declined by 67 percent in 2024 compared to the previous year due to regional security concerns. Such drastic reductions in capacity availability require freight forwarders to constantly realign their supply chain strategies. Consequently, the sector faces restricted expansion potential as resources are consumed by the need to manage risk and absorb costs related to unstable trade environments.

Market Trends

The adoption of sustainable logistics and decarbonization strategies has become a critical operational priority, driven by tightening environmental regulations and shipper demands for carbon-neutral supply chains. Freight forwarders are increasingly integrating green solutions, such as sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) and electric vehicles, to mitigate the environmental impact of transport operations. This shift is becoming a competitive differentiator for logistics providers aiming to secure long-term contracts with eco-conscious multinational corporations. According to Kuehne+Nagel's 'Annual Report 2024', released in April 2025, the company's air logistics division sourced 29 million liters of SAF in 2024, representing a 21 percent increase compared to the previous year and highlighting the sector's commitment to reducing its carbon footprint.

Simultaneously, the acceleration of digital transformation and process automation is reshaping the industry's traditional service models. Providers are moving away from manual, paper-based quoting processes toward dynamic, digital-native platforms that offer instant pricing and booking capabilities. This technological evolution streamlines operations, reduces transactional friction, and enhances the customer experience by providing immediate access to capacity across various transport modes. According to Freightos' 'The State of Online Freight 2025' report from April 2025, half of the top global freight forwarders and four of the five largest ocean carriers now offer instant online freight quotes, marking a significant departure from 2015 when no major provider offered such digital capabilities.

Key Players Profiled in the Freight Forwarding Market

• Kuehne + Nagel International AG
• Schenker AG
• CMA CGM Group
• DHL Group
• Nippon Express Co., Ltd.
• Allcargo Logistics Ltd.
• C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc.,
• Hellmann Worldwide Logistics SE & Co. KG

Report Scope

In this report, the Global Freight Forwarding Market has been segmented into the following categories:

Freight Forwarding Market, by Mode of Transport:

• Air Freight Forwarding
• Ocean Freight Forwarding
• Road Freight Forwarding
• Rail Freight Forwarding

Freight Forwarding Market, by Customer Type:

• B2C
• B2B

Freight Forwarding Market, by Application:

• Industrial & Manufacturing
• Retail
• Healthcare
• Oil & Gas
• Food & Beverages
• Others

Freight Forwarding Market, by Region:

• North America
• Europe
• Asia-Pacific
• South America
• Middle East & Africa

Competitive Landscape

Company Profiles: Detailed analysis of the major companies present in the Global Freight Forwarding Market.

Available Customization

The analyst offers customization according to your specific needs. The following customization options are available for the report:

• Detailed analysis and profiling of additional market players (up to five).

This product will be delivered within 1-3 business days.