Global Mail Volumes Rebound After Slump – UN

Global Mail Volumes Rebound After Slump – UN

New York, Nov 4 2010 7:10PM

The volume of mail and parcels delivered through the world’s postal network is on the rise again after a down-turn during the global financial crisis, according to new data released today by the United Nations postal union.

The parcel and express mail are showing the best signs of recovery, the UN Universal Postal Union (UPU) said in a "http://www.upu.int/en/media-centre/upu-press-releases/underway-press-release/browse/1/article/869/global-mail-business-picking-up-says-new-upu-research.html"press release after a study carried out in some of the largest mail and courier services.

“The parcel and express mail segments are doing very well,” says José Ansón, the UPU economist who led the research. “There was a very strong rebound of express mail since the end of 2009 due to the growth in international trade,” he added.

Throughout the global financial crisis, the parcel business was the most resilient, particularly in the international mail delivery. Booming e-commerce is likely to have contributed to buoyancy, according to the study.

After a slump in 2008 and most of last year, domestic and international express mail volumes swung upward at the end of 2009, and were still growing by the middle of this year.

At the height of the crisis, global domestic mail volumes were down 12 per cent, or about 13 billion pieces, in the second quarter of last year compared to the same period in 2008.

The letters and parcels, which include mail items up to 2 kilograms, still accounts for 40 to 60 per cent of an average postal revenues. In some developing countries and States with emerging economies, the volumes remain higher than in industrialized countries.

“This seems to be the case in countries that effectively integrate the physical, electronic and financial facets of their postal network as well as use new technologies to improve existing services or create new ones,” Ansón said.

ENDS

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