Archive:Postal statistics

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Introduction

The purpose of Community policy in the postal sector is to complete the internal market for postal services and to ensure, through an appropriate regulatory framework, that efficient, reliable and good-quality postal services are available throughout the European Union to all its citizens at affordable prices. The importance of postal services both for the economic prosperity and social well-being and cohesion of the EU make this a priority area for Community action.

Eurostat restarted collecting data on postal services in 2005. The National Regulatory Authorities (NRAs) are Eurostat's partners in the data collection and the reference years are 2004 to 2008. This article covers years up to 2007.

The definitions used were discussed and agreed in cooperation with the European Postal Regulators in a project group ("Assistance and development of EU statistics") of the European Committee for Postal Regulation (CERP).

The data collection covers the companies operating under the Universal Service obligation (Universal Service Providers - USP). For countries where a USP no longer exists, the company which was the USP prior to liberalisation is referred to. "Universal service" refers here to the set of general interest demands to which services such as the mail should be subject throughout the Community. The aim is to ensure that all users have access to quality services at an affordable price.

Only data on the USP have been published so far. Activities other than postal services (for instance financial services) of the USP are excluded due to the fact that they are not comparable between countries. Differing market conditions should be taken into consideration while making comparisons between countries.

Main statistical findings

Domestic postal turnover growing slower than the GDP during the period 2004-2007
Share of postal employment decreasing in the EU-27 in 2007 compared to 2004
Network access (number of inhabitants served by post offices) varies considerable between countries
Significant differences between countries concerning the number of letter-post items sent per capita
High rate of on-time delivery of priority letters in most countries
Large differences between the prices for posting a standard letter (domestic and intra-EU services)

Domestic postal turnover growing slower than the GDP during the period 2004-2007

Graph 1: Total turnover from the domestic postal sector as % of GDP^[1]

The EU-27 national postal operators generated in 2007 all together a turnover of EUR 60 billion, which was in relation to GDP approximately 0.5% in the EU-27. Almost 70% of the total turnover of the national postal operators was created in the four largest economies: Germany, France, United Kingdom and Italy, where the turnover ranged from EUR 13 billion (Germany) to EUR 5 billion (Italy). Larger countries tend to have higher turnover figures in absolute terms, and therefore turnover in relation to GDP has been used to facilitate comparison between countries.

Sweden remains in 2007 the country with the highest turnover from domestic postal sector in relation GDP (0.8%), followed by Denmark, France, Finland and Belgium, all with turnover percentages in GDP above 0.6%. At the other end of the scale are the two new EU Members States, Bulgaria and Romania, with turnover ratios to GDP of only around 0.1%. Although domestic postal turnover in absolute terms (expressed in current prices) has generally increased compared to 2004, its ratio to GDP fell in most countries, as well as at the EU-27 level. Countries where the ratio of domestic postal turnover to GDP fell most compared to 2004 were Estonia, Luxembourg, Sweden, Germany, the Netherlands and Norway. Only Lithuania and Italy have seen the domestic postal turnover in relation to GDP slightly growing in 2007 compared to 2004.

Share of postal employment decreasing in the EU-27 in 2007 compared to 2004

Graph 2: Total number of persons employed in the domestic postal sector as % of the total employment

The national postal sector employed more than 1 million persons in 2007, accounting for 0.5% of total EU-27 employment. The number of persons employed compared to 2004 dropped by 6.5 % in the EU-27, although this decline slowed down towards 2007. France had in 2007 the highest share of postal employment in total (1%), being followed by Finland, Denmark and Hungary, all with shares above 0.8%. Lowest shares (below 0.3%) were registered in Greece, Cyprus and Portugal. Compared to 2004, postal employment in absolute terms increased in several countries of the EU, as well as in Iceland. However, its share in total employment has followed the same pattern only in Hungary, Bulgaria, Austria, Greece and Slovenia. For the rest of the countries and the EU-27 it has decreased – the countries where the shares fell most compared to 2004 were Denmark, France, Sweden and Norway. The average productivity measured in terms of turnover per person employed in 2007 was EUR 54000 in the EU-27, almost 12% higher than in 2004. There are significant differences between the Member States, the productivity measured in terms of turnover per person employed ranging from EUR 2000 in Bulgaria to EUR 97000 in Sweden.

Text with Footnote ^[2]

Subdivision 1

Subdivision 2

Data sources and availability

Context

Further Eurostat information

Publications

Title of the publication

Main tables

Title of top Main tables folder, see:

Title(s) of second level folder (if any)

Title(s) of third level folder (if any)

Database

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