Postal and courier services

Over the past two decades, the postal sector has undergone significant transformation due to liberalization, privatization, and increased competition from private couriers. While postal services still handle letter and parcel delivery, operate infrastructure, and sometimes offer financial services, their revenue models have shifted notably. Revenue from letter-post has declined sharply—from over 50% in the mid-2000s to about 34% in 2021—while revenue from parcels and logistics has more than tripled in the same period, reflecting a growing emphasis on e-commerce and package delivery. 

Letter volumes continue to drop, especially in high-income countries like Germany and Switzerland, which have seen declines of around 40% since 2008. Meanwhile, employment trends vary by region: most middle-income countries have seen job growth in the sector, driven by parcel logistics, whereas high-income countries show mixed results. The U.S., for example, reported that postal and courier services made up 2.2% of total employment in 2022. As postal systems adapt to technological change, they are also responding to broader policy challenges including universal service mandates, digital inclusion, and environmental sustainability.

The bar charts show global and regional point estimates at the sectoral level, based on data from the ILO Harmonized Microdata collection. These estimates cannot be directly compared across different periods and may be updated as new information becomes available. The estimates provided and published by the ILO may differ from those produced and released at the national level.

For more detailed labour market indicators and country-level data, visit the Sectoral Employment Statistics page of the ILOSTAT database.

The Sectoral Policies Department (SECTOR)

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