Letter writing plummets in Poland

Photo: glowimages

Janusz Wojtas, a member of the board of Polish Post, said that the market for ordinary letters is believed to have fallen by 10% this year, which is also part of a longer-term decline in the market.

In particular the number of letters posted by individuals dropped significantly, falling by almost a quarter compared to last year.

In 2013 a total of 1.4 billion letters were sent by Polish residents and companies.

“I know of no country in Europe, where the decline has been so dramatic,'' Wojtas commented.

Although other EU countries have also seen a fall in the popularity of letters, the average annual fall in the volume of letters sent has been just 3% during recent years, a much less sharp decline than Poland’s.

Polish letter writing originally boomed in the 1990s following the fall of communism and the widespread advent of paper invoices, peaking at 2 billion letters sent in 1999.

However, since then faster and cheaper means of communication such as email have come into use, while electronic bills are now commonly used to replace postal ones.

To counteract the decline Polish Post is making ongoing efforts to adapt, including the introduction of digital services.

The Post intends to offer the so-called ‘digital letterbox’ from the first quarter of 2015, allowing people to receive scans of letters intended for them. (sl)

Source: Gazeta Wyborcza