End of an era for South African households
The volume of mail handled by the South African Post Office has significantly decreased over the past two decades as electronic communication has become the norm.
Recent data from the General Household Survey (GHS) shows a notable shift in households that no longer receive any physical mail.
In 2002, only 9.0% of households reported receiving no mail at all. By 2019, this percentage had risen steadily to 32.7%.
The trend accelerated dramatically following the COVID-19 pandemic, with the proportion of households receiving no mail skyrocketing to 67.4% by 2025.
As a result, only 32.6% of South African households received physical mail by any method in 2025.
Direct home delivery of mail is relatively uncommon and varies significantly based on geographic location.
Nationally, only 25.3% of households receive mail delivered directly to their homes. This percentage increases to 36.0% in metropolitan areas and 30.6% in urban areas.
In contrast, rural areas have very limited access, with only 3.5% of households receiving mail delivered directly to their homes.
Due to the rarity of direct home delivery in rural areas, these households often rely on alternative methods for receiving mail, such as through schools, workplaces, or community leaders (6.0%), rather than using traditional post boxes or private mail bags (3.8%).
Additionally, the overall volume of physical mail handled by the South African Post Office has dramatically declined, with 67.4% of households receiving no mail at all by 2025.
However, this decline has been offset by a significant shift toward electronic communication, particularly through email.
Rather than indicating a loss of economic coordination, the data suggests a transition in how South Africans communicate and engage in the economy.
For instance, as the use of physical mail declined, mobile broadband access surged, providing 85.6% of households with internet access by 2025.
South Africa’s post office problem
The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) published its 2025 State of the ICT Sector report, noting a worrying decline in the number of registered letters sent domestically.
Registered letter delivery is a reserved postal service, which means that only the South African Post Office (SAPO) is legally permitted to provide this service.
In 2024, local registered letter volumes were 147.7 million, but this figure dropped to 142.7 million in 2025.
Additionally, the volume of registered letters processed at International Mail Centres experienced a slight increase, rising by approximately 67,000 letters.
“This small increase does not significantly offset the broader decline in total registered letters,” ICASA said.
“In 2025, total registered letter delivery services decreased from 152,961,335 in 2024 to 148,044,754, reflecting a continued decline in domestic letter usage.”
Over the past two years, the number of registered letters sent in South Africa has fallen to less than half of the 326 million sent domestically and 5 million sent internationally between September 2020 and September 2021.
From 30 September 2021 to 30 September, 2022, nearly 320 million registered letters were sent domestically, along with 4.2 million letters sent abroad.
However, significant trouble emerged between 30 September 2022 and 30 September 2023, when the total volume of registered letters declined by approximately 73 million.
During this period, the South African Post Office faced severe financial and operational challenges, resulting in the closure of around 120 branches.
The situation worsened in July 2023, when a landlord at one of its branches sought a provisional liquidation order due to the Post Office’s failure to pay rent, resulting in the entity being placed under business rescue.
The business rescue plan included significant cuts to branches and staff over the following two and a half years.
The decline in registered mail continued to accelerate between 30 September 2023 and 30 September 2024, with an additional year-on-year drop of 100 million letters.
The chart below, taken from ICASA’s 2025 State of the ICT Sector report, tracks the volume of registered letter services in South Africa from 2021 to 2025.
SAPO registered domestic and international mail volumes from 2021 to 2025
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