According to a new report from The Insight Partners, the global 4PL market is estimated to reach US$84.17 billion by 2027 from US$54.06 billion in 2018. Large populations in Asia coupled with rising disposable incomes are propelling the e-commerce sector which would drive the 4PL market.
Regional demographics have played a crucial role in the growth of the 4PL services market. As an example, the 4PL adoption is driven by the retail sector, which in-turn has propelled due to the advent of e-commerce.
As the APAC region boasts of more than one-third of the global population, the market attractiveness for e-commerce industry is very high. Furthermore, developing economies and rising disposable incomes of individuals have accentuated further the growth in e-commerce activities.
Rising demand diversities on account of diverse demographics observed in the region contributes to the supply chain complexities, thus requiring the needs for 4PL services to be deployed by the shipping companies.
Asia-Pacific has become a global manufacturing hub with the presence of diverse manufacturing industries. Moreover, the governments of these countries are making developments to improve investment scenario.
The governments are providing tax-rebates, funds, subsidies and other such support to attract the manufacturing companies to set-up plants in their respective countries.
Several governments have also taken strategic initiatives such as Made in China 2025, and Make in India, among others, to drive the growth of manufacturing and other high-tech industries.
Asia is home to nearly 3.5 billion people, and presently, the GDP per capita is US$6,799, which is expected to grow.
There is a huge growth in the e-commerce markets within Asian countries such as China, Japan, and India.
Also, the number of users using online websites for shopping is projected to increase by 2021. This represents 53% of the total population.
Such growing interest and usage by internet users for going onto e-commerce platforms for fashion, electronics, and other products would help the industry to contribute a higher portion to GDP.
Many countries in Asia are already logistics powerhouse such as China, Taiwan, Japan, Hong Kong, South Korea, and Singapore.  As such, the burgeoning e-commerce industry can benefit from the positive opportunities offer by the established 4PL providers across Asia.