E-commerce keeping postmen busy
E-commerce and advertising have buoyed postal services even though international letter-post has fallen in the past five years, the Universal Postal Union said Thursday.
Domestic parcel volumes rose 7.9% in the five years between 2002 and 2007 to reach 6.5 billion items, the UPU said in a statement to mark World Post Day, with international volumes up 1.4% over the same period to reach 44 million items.
"The increases are thought to be due in part to the growth of e-commerce, with the majority of online purchases still remaining within borders," the Bern-based organisation said.
Domestic letter-post grew 0.3% over the five years to 433 billion pieces, with advertising mail accounting for around 30%.
However, international letter-post fell 2.6 percent with a volume of 5.5 billion items in 2007, due to "stiff competition from new technologies".
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