As a whole, the postal industry dramatically influences the social and economic development of countries globally. In the United States alone, the postal industry employs nearly 500,000 career employees. Additionally, the industry has an operating revenue of $70.6 billion.
The United States ranks as one of the world’s best Post Offices. Other countries with top-notch postal services include:
- Japan
- Korea
- Australia
- Canada
- Germany
These countries rated high based on three metrics. The metrics included access to vital services, operational resource efficiency, and public trust.
From early on in history, people found a way to get messages to one another. Messengers often did this on horseback. In the 1600s and 1700s, many countries established national postage systems. As postage systems expanded, it allowed the exchange of mail between countries. By the late 1800s, international mail became complex and inefficient. In 1863, with the help of U.S. Postmaster General, Montgomery Blair, the first guidelines for international postal services were established. It wasn’t until October 9th, 1874 that delegates present at a conference in Bern, Switzerland signed the Treaty of Bern. The treaty formally created the General Postal Union. In 1878, the General Postal Union changed to the Universal Postal Union (UPU).
Seventy years later in 1948, the UPU became an agency of the United Nations. At the UPU congress in 1969 in Tokyo, Japan, they declared October 9th as World Postal Day. The date commemorated the anniversary of the UPU. Today, over 150 countries all over the world participate in World Post Day celebrations.
2022 theme: Post for Planet.
Source: www.un.org
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