UPU highlights changing postal sector in recent report

The Universal Postal Union (UPU) has released its 2018 postal development report, “Benchmarking a critical infrastructure for sustainable development,” which admits the postal sector is changing.

According to the report, the “rise of digitalization coupled with other long-term social and macroeconomic transformations” has seen post offices around the world expand their services to go beyond delivering lettermail.

“In this context, the meaning of postal development needs to be refined and further aligned with the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda, embodied by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs),” reads the report. “Examining postal development through the lens of sustainable development matters for both the prosperity of the postal sector and the well-being of societies around the world. Indeed, with a global network of over 677,000 post offices, 5.3 million staff and physical infrastructure covering 192 countries, Posts play a critical socio-economic role.”

Measuring postal performance and development—”no small task,” according to UPU officials—involves the Integrated Index for Postal Development (2IPD), a composite index that measures the performance of countries across four aspects, including reliability, reach, relevance and resilience.

Canada ranked 14th worldwide with a 2IPD score of 69.5. (Photo by UPU)

SWITZERLAND TOPS 173 COUNTRIES

A total of 173 countries were assessed for the 2018 global ranking, which is based on full-year data for 2017.

Switzerland, the Netherlands and Japan topped the ranking followed by Germany and France.

“These countries owe their high scores to a consistently balanced performance across the four dimensions of the 2IPD: they have all managed to build reliable, wellconnected, relevant and resilient postal services. However, the situation of the top 5 does not reflect the global trend for the sector, which is being affected by growing gaps in postal development between and within regions,” reads the report. “Moreover, comparable benchmarks tend to indicate that Posts are underperforming in comparison with other elements of national infrastructure.”

Some countries have achieved what the report describes as “encouraging” results, including:

  • Poland (score of 78.3, ranked sixth worldwide);
  • Singapore (score of 78.2, ranked seventh);
  • Nigeria (score of 50.9, ranked 51st);
  • Brazil (score of 54.0, ranked 44th); and
  • Tunisia (score of 51.9, ranked 49th).

Canada ranked 14th worldwide with a score of 69.5 (tied with China).

To read the full report, click here.

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