In the last quarter of 2009, total traffic from postal services was reported to have grown by around 7.8% over the previous quarter to 294 million objects. In comparison to the 4th quarter of 2008, total postal traffic fell by almost 6%, due above all to a decline in non-express mail.
Of the total number of objects distributed during the quarter, around 96% were destined for the national market, while the remaining 4% were destined for the international market.
By type of object, around 98% of postal traffic is comprised by correspondence (which includes addressed publicity and editorial mail). Meanwhile parcels, running counter to the declining trend in year-on-year terms, represented just 2% of total traffic.
Meanwhile, an average of 27.6 postal objects were distributed in the quarter per inhabitant, 2 fewer objects per capita than in the 4th quarter of 2008.
Traffic of the liberalised area represents around 22% of the total.
Despite an increase in liberalised traffic compared to the previous quarter (13.8%) – which regularly occurs in the last quarter of each year -, this increase was not enough to offset the declining trend in traffic seen over recent quarters. As such, compared to the last quarter of 2008, the number of objects handled fell by 8.5%. This is in line with a downward trans in liberalised traffic which has been evident in recent years.
During the quarter being reported, the volume of national postal traffic increased by 15% to around 60.8 million objects. Outgoing international traffic again comprised 4.7 million objects.
National traffic made up 93% of total postal traffic operated in competition, with outgoing international traffic representing 7%
In the liberalised area, Grupo CTT was responsible for around 90% of national traffic and for around 82% of outgoing international traffic
In this period, 6.2 million of the total 65.6 million liberalised postal objects fell within the express mail category, with around 59.3 million being encompassed by the remaining service categories.
Express mail therefore accounted for around 10% of total traffic operated in competition, with the remaining categories making up 90% of total liberalised traffic.
In general, the change in liberalised traffic by service followed the trends described above: seasonal growth in traffic compared to the previous quarter and a decline in traffic in comparison to the same period of the previous year, in line with the trend reported over recent years.
The exception to this is express mail, which grew by 13.8% year-on-year. This growth is due, above all, to the increase in deliveries reported by the largest alternative provider.
In terms of the offer structure, it can be seen that in the fourth quarter of 2009 the companies of Grupo CTT retained a share of 41.6% of express mail traffic and 95% of non-express mail traffic.
Consult:
- Postal Services - 4th quarter 2009 https://www.anacom.pt/render.jsp?contentId=1016732
