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December 2014 – Despite an overall decline in global letter mailings,
traditional letter-post still contributes almost half of all postal
revenues, the United Nations global post agency has reported, noting
that in an ever-evolving communication landscape, postal services still
remain a critical lynchpin for international networks.
In a press release citing
the latest postal statistics for 2013, the Universal Postal Union (UPU)
today said that the downward trend in global letter-post traffic had
been offset by a 5.8 per cent uptick in parcel volumes in all regions of
the world, except Africa and the Asia-Pacific, where slight decreases
were observed. José Ansón, a UPU economist, explained that
infrastructure difficulties and competition could be to blame for the
lagging figures in both regions.
Although
international letter-post volumes have decreased, Mr. Ansón added, the
average weight of individual items is heavier as “a significant number
of small packets generated by e-commerce seen to be moving through the
letter-post stream.” In all, he estimated, some 240 million small
packets made up letter-post volumes in 2013, permitting postal services
worldwide to reap the benefits of e-commerce.
In
addition, the UN agency continued, letter-post accounts for 43.4 per
cent of global public postal revenues, which reached $234 billion. In
some regions, the contribution to revenues was even higher, reaching
59.6 per cent.
Against
the backdrop of a radically changing communication environment, Mr.
Ansón noted that the public postal service nonetheless remains widely
accessible. There are currently more than five million postal employees
around the world in 663,000 post offices and, annually, postal services
process and deliver an estimated 368 billion letter-post items and 6.4
billion parcels.
“Despite
the transformation the global postal sector is experiencing, it is
interesting to note that the global network is not retracting,” he
continued. “Rather than seeing a decline of post offices or access
points and staff, we are seeing a relative stabilization on both counts.
The postal web remains the largest physical distribution network on the
planet.”
This
year, 2014, is a milestone year as it also marks the 140th anniversary
of the UPU, whose establishment helped postal services pave the way to
globalized trade and commerce.
With
almost 3 per cent of the world’s inhabitants remaining without postal
services, including 13 per cent of the African population and eight per
cent of citizens in Arab countries, the UN agency has long advocated for
increased investment in postal services so that they may reach deprived
and rural communities in the hope of stimulating global and local
economies and improving livelihoods.
Source : http://www.un.org
