Swiss Post Records All-Time High of 182.7 Million Packages

Jan 19, 2021 at 7:49 PM

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The enormous volume of packages during the lockdown in spring and the large number of packages in the pre-Christmas period, with over 1 million packages daily from the so-called “Black Friday,” made it foreseeable: With 182.7 million packages, the employees delivered more packages than ever in the over 170-year history of the Post in 2020. The all-time record logically follows the trend of recent years. Due to the booming online trade, the Post recorded a new peak value every year for the past seven years. The significant jump of 23.3 percent compared to the previous year (148 million) also clearly shows the supply task that the Post had during times of closed stores and further protective measures against COVID-19.

Increased Volume a Major Challenge

The rapidly and significantly increased volume of packages in 2020 was a major challenge: Only thanks to the extraordinary performance of its employees, about 500 new positions, around 800 temporary workers, and investments of over 190 million Swiss francs in infrastructure could the Post manage the enormous volumes of packages. Because employees sorted packages for the first time in letter centers as well as in all four new regional package centers, the Post was able to process over 300,000 additional packages daily compared to the previous year. The Post therefore plans to establish more regional sorting centers by 2030, for example in Utzenstorf (BE) and in the metropolitan areas of Zurich and Basel.

Package Volume Development 2010-2020

Foreign Small Goods Shipments Stagnate

After years of strong growth rates, the volume of small goods shipments from abroad shrank by 2 percent in 2020. Small goods shipments resemble smaller packages. The ordered products are often packed in soft padded envelopes or plastic covers. They are considered letters outside of Switzerland. The share of shipments from Europe compared to those from Asia has increased again. This can be explained by the fact that shipments from Asia arrived in Switzerland with significant delays due to a lack of transport options by air. Although the volume of small goods shipments from abroad has decreased somewhat in the last two years, the Post still processed an average of around 95,000 shipments per day in 2020. Thanks to investments of around 70 million Swiss francs, many shipments will no longer be sorted manually but will be sorted mechanically in Zurich-Mülligen in a world-first sorting facility of its kind. The facility is expected to be fully operational from summer this year.

Volume Development of Imported Small Goods Shipments 2013-2020

Number of Letters Continues to Shrink

Even though the number of letters sent has been shrinking for years due to digital communication options, the Post still handled very large volumes of letters in 2020 with 1,706 million addressed letters. This is a decrease of 5.6 percent compared to the previous year. The letter market has declined by about 30 percent since 2010. For this reason, the Post has reorganized itself as part of the new strategy “Post of Tomorrow” with the merger of package and letter processing in 2021 and complements the delivery service of the postmen with new and innovative offerings.

Volume Development of Addressed Letters Domestic 2010-2020