Letter senders and recipients continue to drop

The number of people in Malta who send and receive letters through post has continued to decline, while those receiving parcels from overseas registered a slight decline. 

According to a survey by the Malta Communications Authority which delved into the perceptions of Maltese households using postal services, exactly two thirds of households saw no change in the number of addressed letters that they received during the past year. Meanwhile, 28% of respondents said that the number of letters received decreased, while 6% reported an increase. 

With regards to those who sent letters, 39% of respondents said that the volume of letters sent remained the same. A third of households claimed that they sent no letters during the last 12 months, compared to 40% back in 2021. 

Additionally, 26% of respondents said that the amount of letters sent had declined. 

According to the MCA survey, 46% of participants reported spending up to €5 on posting articles in the year preceding the study. This marks an increase across all spending categories compared to the previous survey, with a significant 8% rise observed among those spending between €5 and €10.

In terms of parcel mail activity, there was a slight decrease in the percentage of respondents receiving parcels from overseas, dropping from 31% in 2021 to 28% in 2023. However, the number of households that received locally ordered goods experienced a notable decline from 69% to 56% over the same period. This decrease may be attributed to COVID-related restrictions in 2021 affecting online shopping volumes.

DHL and MaltaPost emerged as the dominant players in parcel delivery services, with 44% and 37% of respondents using their services, respectively. Despite the availability of parcel lockers, only 1% of respondents reported using this delivery solution.

Regarding delivery lead time, 46% consider next-day delivery acceptable for addressed letter mail, with 62% finding a five-day delivery week acceptable. However, 21% view a five-day delivery week as a minor inconvenience, while 12% perceive it as a major inconvenience. Notably, 62% of respondents are willing to pay higher prices to sustain six-day delivery.