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Letter logistics center in Spich near Bonn
Photo: Felix Heyder/ picture-alliance/ dpa
Deutsche Post transported significantly fewer letters last year than before.
The postal company DHL Group announced that the volume of shipments fell by 5.6 percent to around 12.6 billion in 2023.
In 2022 there was only a decrease of 0.3 percent; in previous years the decline was in the range of 2 to 3 percent.
The reason for the falling demand is digitalization - many people use emails or chats for communication and are increasingly forgoing letters.
However, demand for packages is increasing, especially because a large proportion of consumers regularly order from online retailers.
The volume of parcels transported by DHL in Germany increased last year by 3.8 percent to around 1.7 billion.
The Bonn-based logistics company is by far the market leader in Germany in the letter and parcel business.
When transporting letters, the post office has to adhere to rules that date back to the 1990s, such as that 80 percent of the letters posted today must arrive on the next working day.
As part of an amendment to the law, these requirements should adapt to changing needs and the time pressure for the post office should decrease - then the Bonn-based company could reduce its costs.
The post office's annual figures for the mail business that have now been presented are likely to be a further argument that the outdated law urgently needs to be changed.
The amendment should be completed by the end of spring.
ssu/dpa-AFX