First-Class Mail Volume Since 1926

(Number of Pieces Mailed, to the Nearest Million)

An Act of February 28, 1925, authorized the Postmaster General to account annually for revenues and costs associated with different types of mail; annual analyses, with detailed estimates of mail volume, are available beginning in 1926.

Year	Pieces
1926	15,266
1927	16,284
1928	16,706
1929	17,170
1930	16,901
1931	15,824
1932	14,598
1933	10,878
1934	11,557
1935	12,498
1936	12,731
1937	13,882
1938	14,226
1939	14,657
1940	15,224
1941	15,989
1942	16,972
1943	--
1944	20,510
1945	21,009
1946	20,059
1947	20,665
1948	21,948
1949	23,206
1950	24,500
1951	25,578
1952	26,502
1953	27,257
1954	27,085
1955	28,713
1956	30,078
1957	31,561
1958	32,218
1959	32,274
1960	33,235
1961	34,289
1962	35,333
1963	35,833
1964	36,943
1965	38,068
1966	40,422
1967	41,998
1968	43,183
1969	46,411
1970	48,640
1971	50,036
1972	48,933
1973	50,965
1974	51,594
1975	51,373
1976	52,108
1977	53,654
1978	55,981
1979	57,926
1980	60,276
1981	61,410
1982	62,200
1983	64,247
1984	68,429
1985	72,440
1986	76,187
1987	78,869
1988	84,749
1989	85,855
1990	89,270
1991	90,285
1992	90,781
1993	92,169
1994	95,333
1995	96,296
1996	98,216
1997	99,660
1998	100,434
1999	101,937
2000	103,526
2001	103,656
2002	102,379
2003	99,059
2004	97,926
2005	98,567
2006	98,016
2007	96,297
2008	90,671
2009	82,727
2010	77,592
2011	72,522
2012	68,696

Note:

Numbers for some years were revised in later years; the most recent figures are shown. Beginning in 2008, figures do not include First-Class Parcels and international pieces.

Sources:

--1926-1949: U.S. Post Office Department, Bureau of Finance and Administration, Mail Trends, Domestic and International, 1926-1966, March 1967, 15.

--Since 1950: Annual Report of the Postmaster General (title changed to Annual Report of the United States Postal Service in 1996 and to Annual Report to Congress in 2011).

HISTORIAN

UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE

DECEMBER 2012