Ofcom publishes annual post monitoring report

[POSTMAN]

https://www.ofcom.org.uk/post/market-pe ... g%20report

Ofcom has today published its annual post monitoring report, which sets out data and trends in the postal sector for the 2024-25 financial year.

Postal services remain a valued part of consumers’ lives, with 62% saying post is important to them as a channel of communication with friends and family, although this has declined from 75% in 2021-22.

In 2024-25, the long-term trend of declining letter volumes continued but at a slower rate, with addressed letter volumes decreasing 2% year-on-year – to reaching 6.5 billion – although this included the 2024 General Election, which had a material impact. This compared with a 9% fall in 2023-24.

Total measured parcel volumes increased by 7.1% to 4.2 billion items in 2024-25, compared with an increase of 8.5% in 2023-24.

However, measured parcel revenues decreased by 0.8% in real terms in 2024-25, to £13.2bn, which was a lower decrease than the 3.8% decline in 2023-24. This compares to the pre-pandemic level of £12.9bn in 2019-20, and £17.3bn in 2020-21.

Royal Mail continued to make a loss in 2024-25, with the part of the business that provides the universal service reporting a negative profit margin of -0.2%. However, the loss was reduced considerably compared to -6.3% in the previous year. Despite this improvement, we continue to have concerns about the sustainability of the universal service.

This year, we modernised the obligations imposed on Royal Mail – to reflect what people need, put the service on a more sustainable footing, and enable the company to invest more in improving its delivery performance. Royal Mail must now play its part by implementing this effectively, improving its reliability, and making progress towards its efficiency targets.

Consumers’ value for money ratings for Royal Mail’s First Class letter services have dropped as prices have gone up and quality of service continued to fall below expectations.

Ofcom has fined Royal Mail £37m for its poor letter delivery performance in recent years, and will continue to hold the company to account. We are also currently reviewing the affordability of postal services, and plan to consult on proposals for future approaches to stamp pricing in the first quarter of 2026.

https://www.ofcom.org.uk/siteassets/res ... 024-25.pdf

[tramssirhc]

No other regulator is allowed to do what OFCOM are doing. The railway regulator doesn't tell a train operator to either fill more trains or to scrap the service. OFCOM and the regulatory framework for the USO is not fit for purpose and OFCOM should be reformed and the USO regulations rewritten to protect the taxpayer and workers.

[TopperGas]

Does anybody really find this comment correct?

"Postal services remain a valued part of consumers’ lives, with 62% saying post is important to them as a channel of communication with friends and family"

Apart from birthday etc cards all our family's communication with friends and family is done electronically, I can't recall when we last received a letter from a friend or a family member!

[Mr Rush]

Does anybody really find this comment correct?

"Postal services remain a valued part of consumers’ lives, with 62% saying post is important to them as a channel of communication with friends and family"

Apart from birthday etc cards all our family's communication with friends and family is done electronically, I can't recall when we last received a letter from a friend or a family member!

Perhaps you are simply amongst the minority (38%) who answered negatively (and/or neutrally, if that was an option in the survey).

[tramssirhc]

Does anybody really find this comment correct?

"Postal services remain a valued part of consumers’ lives, with 62% saying post is important to them as a channel of communication with friends and family"

Apart from birthday etc cards all our family's communication with friends and family is done electronically, I can't recall when we last received a letter from a friend or a family member!

7 billion letters says yes. I understand what you're saying but you are in a minority.

[Jefferson Starfish]

Does anybody really find this comment correct?

"Postal services remain a valued part of consumers’ lives, with 62% saying post is important to them as a channel of communication with friends and family"

Apart from birthday etc cards all our family's communication with friends and family is done electronically, I can't recall when we last received a letter from a friend or a family member!

7 billion letters says yes. I understand what you're saying but you are in a minority.

But how many of those 7 billion letters are sent to friends and family.
I suspect a very small percentage.

[tramssirhc]

Does anybody really find this comment correct?

"Postal services remain a valued part of consumers’ lives, with 62% saying post is important to them as a channel of communication with friends and family"

Apart from birthday etc cards all our family's communication with friends and family is done electronically, I can't recall when we last received a letter from a friend or a family member!

7 billion letters says yes. I understand what you're saying but you are in a minority.

But how many of those 7 billion letters are sent to friends and family.
I suspect a very small percentage.

7 billion is the number. That's the workload. With no end in sight. Talk the job down all you want, just like the CWU do. We'll carry on doing the job.

[Jefferson Starfish]

Lol!

[TopperGas]

Does anybody really find this comment correct?

"Postal services remain a valued part of consumers’ lives, with 62% saying post is important to them as a channel of communication with friends and family"

Apart from birthday etc cards all our family's communication with friends and family is done electronically, I can't recall when we last received a letter from a friend or a family member!

7 billion letters says yes. I understand what you're saying but you are in a minority.

But how many of those 7 billion letters are sent to friends and family.
I suspect a very small percentage.

7 billion is the number. That's the workload. With no end in sight. Talk the job down all you want, just like the CWU do. We'll carry on doing the job.

Nobody is talking the job down just querying the report, most customers I speak to want their NHS letters delivered on time, I've not heard one ask do I have a communication they've been waiting from a friend or family member, in fact I hardly deliver any hand written mail, probably a handful on a good day.

[tramssirhc]

Does anybody really find this comment correct?

"Postal services remain a valued part of consumers’ lives, with 62% saying post is important to them as a channel of communication with friends and family"

Apart from birthday etc cards all our family's communication with friends and family is done electronically, I can't recall when we last received a letter from a friend or a family member!

7 billion letters says yes. I understand what you're saying but you are in a minority.

But how many of those 7 billion letters are sent to friends and family.
I suspect a very small percentage.

7 billion is the number. That's the workload. With no end in sight. Talk the job down all you want, just like the CWU do. We'll carry on doing the job.

Nobody is talking the job down just querying the report, most customers I speak to want their NHS letters delivered on time, I've not heard one ask do I have a communication they've been waiting from a friend or family member, in fact I hardly deliver any hand written mail, probably a handful on a good day.

They can write all the reports they want. Surveys are not the reality. It's 7 billion letters a year. Until that changes then that work needs workers to deliver it. Imagine a world in which surveys were done telling us the cost benefit analysis of MP's or the head of OFCOM. Workers should never accept the findings or surveys run by the industry or regulator. This isn't ratners and they won't wish 7 billion letters away.