Berne, 9 October 2024 - The Universal Postal Union (UPU) - the United Nations specialized agency for international postal cooperation - today announced the results of the 2024 Integrated Index of Postal Development (2IPD), with Switzerland and Germany topping the rankings among the 174 countries assessed.

Switzerland retained its position as world leader in postal development for the eighth consecutive year, while Germany shared the top spot for the first time. The announcement comes as the global postal community celebrates World Post Day, an annual UN observance that in 2024 also marks the 150th Anniversary of the founding of the UPU. The UPU will award the highest-scoring countries in the index during a ceremony at the organization's headquarters in Bern, Switzerland, today.

Speaking about the results, UPU Director-General Masahiko Metoki emphasized the important role of postal services in today's interconnected world, saying: “Postal services are more than just delivery systems: they are channels for trade, pillars of infrastructure, and catalysts for socio-economic development. To all the awardees and postal workers around the world: your dedication connects communities, empowers businesses, and brings the world together.”

Following Switzerland and Germany in the Postal Excellence category are Japan, the United States, France, the Netherlands and Australia, all of which are recognized for the highest level of postal development in this comparative index.

The UPU will also honor top performers in other categories. Regional Champions, recognized as leaders of postal development in their respective regions, include Brazil, China, Estonia, Mauritius and Morocco. Hungary, Indonesia and Barbados will be recognized as Rising Stars for achieving the greatest improvements in postal development this year.

The annual index evaluates countries based on four core indicators: reliability, reach, relevance and resilience. Each country's postal network is given a score out of 100 based on UPU big data, including billions of postal tracking data collected in 2023, official UPU postal statistics covering more than 100 indicators, and key surveys conducted by the UPU. The Index serves as a key measure of how countries' postal networks contribute to global trade and development, as well as an advocacy tool to encourage investment in the development of postal networks around the world.

The full index will be available in the 2024 Postal Sector Report that the UPU will publish this fall.

To illustrate, here is some of the data presented in the UPU STATE OF POSTAL INDEX 2023

Source : upu.int