DHL Group to Invest €160 Million in France in 2026-2027 to Expand Logistics Infrastructure and Accelerate Decarbonisation

DHL Group has announced plans to invest approximately €160 million in France between 2026 and 2027, reinforcing its long-term commitment to one of its largest European markets and bringing the group's total investments in France over the ten-year period from 2018 to 2027 to nearly €900 million. The investment, announced on the sidelines of the Choose France Summit, will focus on expanding logistics capacity, upgrading infrastructure and accelerating decarbonisation efforts across all DHL divisions operating in the country. A significant share of the €160 million will be dedicated to sustainability initiatives supporting DHL Group's goal of achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions from logistics activities by 2050, including electric vehicle fleet expansion, sustainable aviation fuel procurement, solar energy deployment across logistics sites and low-carbon fuel transition for heavier goods vehicles.

 

Infrastructure Investment Across DHL Business Divisions

 

The planned investment spans all DHL business units operating in France, with each division directing capital toward both capacity expansion and sustainability upgrades. DHL Express will invest in fleet modernisation, electrification, charging infrastructure and operational equipment, building on a programme since 2018 that has included 20 real estate projects culminating in the Paris Charles de Gaulle Hub opening in 2021 and the Lyon-Saint Exupéry Gateway in 2025. DHL Global Forwarding will develop alternative fuel vehicles and enhancements to handling equipment and warehousing infrastructure, while DHL Freight will continue investing in alternative fuel vehicles and facilities, with six real estate projects completed since 2018 and another six planned for delivery by 2030.

DHL Supply Chain will expand its state-of-the-art warehouse footprint in key locations including southern Paris, Orléans and Lyon to meet rising demand for third-party logistics services across life sciences, healthcare, manufacturing, technology and e-commerce. The division will also strengthen its fourth-party logistics capabilities through its Toulouse control tower, delivering end-to-end orchestration across complex multi-partner networks. Tobias Meyer, Chief Executive Officer of DHL Group, said France is a vital logistics hub at the heart of Europe and a key market, and that the investment strengthens infrastructure, grows capabilities and accelerates the transition toward low-emissions logistics, enabling better support for customers' growth while contributing to France's competitiveness and sustainability ambitions.

 

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The Decarbonisation Programme and Key Sustainability Initiatives

 

The sustainability component of the €160 million investment encompasses five principal initiatives across different emissions reduction pathways. Electric vehicle fleet expansion and charging infrastructure investment address last-mile delivery and urban logistics emissions, where electrification is commercially viable and increasingly mandated by city access policies. Increased use of sustainable aviation fuel addresses the aviation emissions associated with DHL Express's air freight network, where Meyer highlighted DHL's claim of having the highest SAF share in the industry. Solar energy deployment across logistics sites reduces facility Scope 2 electricity emissions, while the transition to low-carbon fuels such as biodiesel for heavier goods vehicles addresses long-haul road freight where full electrification remains technically and commercially constrained.

The combined approach across multiple emissions sources reflects the complexity of decarbonising a diversified logistics network where different transport modes, facility types and operational contexts require different technical solutions. DHL's commitment to net-zero by 2050 across its logistics activities requires sustained investment across this full spectrum of decarbonisation initiatives, with each investment cycle progressively reducing the carbon intensity of the network while maintaining the service reliability and geographic coverage that customers require. The €900 million total investment over the decade illustrates the sustained capital commitment required to transform a large, established logistics network toward significantly lower emissions while simultaneously expanding capacity to serve growing customer demand.

 

Growth in Strategic Sectors and SME Support

 

Beyond infrastructure and sustainability, DHL Group is expanding its operations in strategic sectors including life sciences and healthcare, aerospace and advanced manufacturing in France, developing new partnerships and contracts in pharmaceuticals and industrial sectors alongside fulfillment and specialised logistics solutions. The expansion of services for small and medium-sized enterprises and e-commerce customers reflects the continued growth of online retail and the increasing complexity of fulfilment requirements that SMEs need to access global markets competitively. France's industrial base in aerospace, pharmaceuticals and advanced manufacturing creates substantial demand for specialised logistics services with high service reliability requirements and stringent supply chain integrity standards.

DHL has operated in France since 1976 and the €900 million cumulative investment over the decade from 2018 to 2027 represents one of the largest sustained logistics infrastructure commitments in the French market by an international operator. The scale of this investment reinforces France's role as a central European logistics hub and demonstrates DHL's strategic conviction in the long-term growth potential of the French market across both domestic and international trade flows. Regional development contributions across multiple French cities and logistics corridors alongside job creation and SME enablement position the investment programme as an economic development contribution alongside its commercial and sustainability dimensions.

 

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Outlook for Sustainable Logistics Investment in Europe

 

The DHL France investment programme reflects the broader transformation underway across European logistics as operators balance the capital demands of network decarbonisation with the commercial imperative of capacity expansion to serve growing e-commerce and industrial logistics demand. The combination of EU regulatory pressure on transport emissions, city-level access restrictions for high-emission vehicles and corporate customer Scope 3 reduction commitments is creating structural demand for low-carbon logistics services that operators like DHL must be able to supply credibly to maintain preferred supplier status with sustainability-conscious corporate clients. Whether DHL can demonstrate measurable progress on its net-zero 2050 pathway through the cumulative effect of investments like the French programme will be an increasingly important commercial differentiator.

Sustained delivery of the infrastructure expansion and decarbonisation initiatives across the French network would strengthen DHL's market position in one of Europe's largest economies and provide a template for similar investment programmes across other major European markets. The convergence of rising e-commerce volumes, tightening European transport emissions regulations and growing corporate demand for verified low-carbon logistics creates conditions in which operators with the capital and operational capability to deliver genuine decarbonisation alongside service quality will capture growing market share from less invested competitors. The next phase of European logistics competition is increasingly likely to be defined as much by sustainability credentials and verified emissions performance as by price, network coverage and service reliability.

 

Source: DHL Group