Postcrossing in numbers: 2022 stats

Postcrossing General Topics
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Like last year, our yearly blog post Postcrossing in numbers has relatively short rankings tables as it would make the blog post way too long otherwise. However, we are posting a longer version here for those interested!

📈 Postcards sent per country/territory
Ranking Country/Territory Sent
1 Germany 1,197,918
2 U.S.A. 855,807
3 Russia 482,915
4 Netherlands 250,815
5 Finland 228,393
6 Japan 175,080
7 Taiwan 147,775
8 China 142,034
9 United Kingdom 120,314
10 Canada 112,060
11 Belarus 106,546
12 Czechia 100,200
13 France 99,224
14 Poland 68,179
15 Austria 60,060
16 Switzerland 55,194
17 Australia 54,911
18 Lithuania 53,699
19 Belgium 48,363
20 India 45,710
21 Italy 43,825
22 Spain 43,545
23 Hong Kong 41,820
24 Portugal 35,047
25 Ukraine 34,444
26 Slovakia 31,511
27 Malaysia 30,480
28 Singapore 26,032
29 Brazil 23,198
30 Indonesia 21,200
31 Norway 17,060
32 Korea (South) 16,131
33 Latvia 15,090
34 Ireland 13,797
35 Slovenia 13,360
36 Sweden 13,234
37 New Zealand 11,614
38 Romania 11,528
39 Luxembourg 11,527
40 Estonia 11,192
41 Hungary 10,720
42 Thailand 8,147
43 Bulgaria 7,334
44 Greece 6,747
45 TĂźrkiye 6,727
46 Serbia 6,365
47 Philippines 6,127
48 Macao 5,816
49 Israel 4,906
50 Croatia 4,728
51 Mexico 4,190
52 Kazakhstan 3,387
53 Åland Islands 3,301
54 Cyprus 3,246
55 United Arab Emirates 3,103
56 Denmark 3,023
57 Moldova 2,602
58 South Africa 2,193
59 Iceland 1,775
60 Malta 1,698
61 Chile 1,662
62 Sri Lanka 1,658
63 Bangladesh 1,560
64 Uzbekistan 1,441
65 Puerto Rico 1,332
66 Georgia 1,011
67 Algeria 999
68 Guernsey 813
69 Bosnia-Herzegovina 810
70 Guam 764
71 Svalbard and Jan Mayen 742
72 Costa Rica 596
73 French Guiana 580
74 Montenegro 486
75 RĂŠunion 469
76 Bahamas 459
77 Liechtenstein 458
78 Azerbaijan 427
79 Kyrgyzstan 387
80 Armenia 375
81 Argentina 371
82 Vietnam 341
83 Tunisia 331
84 Ghana 329
85 Guadeloupe 308
86 Morocco 303
87 North Macedonia 293
88 Isle of Man 285
89 Bahrain 265
90 Brunei 259
91 Gibraltar 228
92 Uganda 228
93 Iran 226
94 Fiji 221
95 Albania 218
96 Andorra 217
97 Vatican 215
98 Colombia 194
99 Uruguay 189
100 Gambia 163
101 Faroe Islands 161
102 Belize 152
103 Bermuda 150
104 Saint Pierre & Miquelon 143
105 Egypt 142
106 French Polynesia 140
107 San Marino 137
108 Trinidad and Tobago 135
109 Maldives 134
110 Monaco 134
111 Christmas Island 128
112 Dominican Republic 117
113 Syria 107
114 Peru 102
115 Jersey 102
116 Cameroon 96
117 Laos 95
118 Oman 88
119 Mauritius 85
120 El Salvador 84
121 Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba 82
122 Madagascar 79
123 Jordan 73
124 Palestine 72
125 Lebanon 66
126 Aruba 66
127 Senegal 66
128 Curaçao 64
129 New Caledonia 59
130 Seychelles 59
131 Greenland 58
132 Tanzania 57
133 Kosovo 51
134 Panama 51
135 Cabo Verde 50
136 Martinique 41
137 Cuba 40
138 Sierra Leone 38
139 Kenya 35
140 Suriname 34
141 Saudi Arabia 30
142 Cambodia 29
143 Antarctica 29
144 Botswana 29
145 Pakistan 27
146 Jamaica 26
147 Sao Tome and Principe 26
148 Antigua & Barbuda 25
149 Togo 25
150 Western Sahara 24
151 Zambia 23
152 Namibia 22
153 Virgin Islands (U.S.) 20
154 S. Georgia and S. Sandwich Islands 20
155 Northern Mariana Islands 20
156 Rwanda 18
157 Mongolia 18
158 Saint Kitts and Nevis 18
159 Liberia 17
160 Mauritania 15
161 Ethiopia 15
162 Norfolk Island 15
163 Qatar 14
164 Saint Lucia 13
165 Turkmenistan 12
166 Zimbabwe 12
167 Barbados 12
168 Guatemala 11
169 Haiti 11
170 Iraq 10
171 Paraguay 10
172 Tajikistan 10
173 Gabon 10
174 Solomon Islands 9
175 Ecuador 7
176 Sint Maarten (Dutch part) 7
177 Côte d’Ivoire 6
178 Sudan 5
179 Honduras 5
180 Cook Islands 5
181 Virgin Islands (British) 5
182 Burkina Faso 5
183 South Sudan 5
184 Bolivia 4
185 Turks and Caicos Islands 4
186 Guinea 4
187 Kuwait 3
188 Djibouti 3
189 Cayman Islands 3
190 Dominica 3
191 Nepal 3
192 Libya 2
193 Saint Martin 2
194 Eswatini 2
195 Saint BarthĂŠlemy 1
196 Guyana 1
197 Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha 1
198 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 1
199 Grenada 1
200 Congo 1
201 Papua New Guinea 1
📈 Postcards sent per capita
Ranking Country/Territory Postcards per capita
1 Åland Islands 123.5820
2 Finland 41.3902
3 Lithuania 19.2502
4 Luxembourg 18.9674
5 Netherlands 14.5560
6 Germany 14.4453
7 Guernsey 12.4640
8 Liechtenstein 12.0812
9 Belarus 11.2326
10 Czechia 9.4300
11 Macao 9.2078
12 Estonia 8.4731
13 Latvia 7.8327
14 Austria 6.7887
15 Gibraltar 6.7620
16 Switzerland 6.4808
17 Slovenia 6.4623
18 Taiwan 6.3012
19 Slovakia 5.7850
20 Hong Kong 5.6127
21 Iceland 5.0202
22 Singapore 4.6167
23 Guam 4.6089
24 Belgium 4.2342
25 Malta 3.5117
26 Portugal 3.4087
27 Isle of Man 3.3897
28 Russia 3.3425
29 Norway 3.2102
30 Canada 3.0238
31 French Guiana 2.9667
32 Ireland 2.8427
33 Andorra 2.8180
34 Cyprus 2.7294
35 U.S.A. 2.6158
36 New Zealand 2.3772
37 Bermuda 2.3449
38 Australia 2.1971
39 United Kingdom 1.8095
40 Poland 1.7952
41 France 1.4812
42 Japan 1.3837
43 Sweden 1.2996
44 Bahamas 1.1902
45 Croatia 1.1562
46 Jersey 1.1232
47 Hungary 1.0974
48 Bulgaria 1.0477
49 Malaysia 0.9667
50 Spain 0.9320
51 Serbia 0.9116
52 Montenegro 0.7809
53 Ukraine 0.7719
54 Moldova 0.7338
55 Italy 0.7252
56 Guadeloupe 0.6953
57 Greece 0.6289
58 Aruba 0.6236
59 Brunei 0.6038
60 RĂŠunion 0.6036
61 Romania 0.5920
62 Israel 0.5522
63 Denmark 0.5214
64 French Polynesia 0.5042
65 Puerto Rico 0.4169
66 Curaçao 0.4004
67 Belize 0.3968
68 United Arab Emirates 0.3222
69 Korea (South) 0.3124
70 Georgia 0.2710
71 Fiji 0.2501
72 Bosnia-Herzegovina 0.2437
73 New Caledonia 0.2077
74 Kazakhstan 0.1853
75 Bahrain 0.1689
76 North Macedonia 0.1407
77 Armenia 0.1270
78 Costa Rica 0.1192
79 Thailand 0.1173
80 Brazil 0.1107
81 China 0.1006
82 Trinidad and Tobago 0.0971
83 Martinique 0.0947
84 Chile 0.0887
85 TĂźrkiye 0.0817
86 Indonesia 0.0792
87 Sri Lanka 0.0765
88 Albania 0.0761
89 Gambia 0.0715
90 Mauritius 0.0672
91 Kyrgyzstan 0.0613
92 Philippines 0.0574
93 Uruguay 0.0548
94 Uzbekistan 0.0437
95 Azerbaijan 0.0429
96 Barbados 0.0419
97 South Africa 0.0380
98 India 0.0338
99 Mexico 0.0332
100 Tunisia 0.0286
101 Algeria 0.0237
102 Oman 0.0182
103 El Salvador 0.0131
104 Panama 0.0122
105 Ghana 0.0111
106 Dominican Republic 0.0110
107 Bangladesh 0.0097
108 Lebanon 0.0096
109 Namibia 0.0090
110 Jamaica 0.0089
111 Morocco 0.0084
112 Argentina 0.0083
113 Jordan 0.0073
114 Mongolia 0.0057
115 Uganda 0.0053
116 Qatar 0.0050
117 Senegal 0.0042
118 Colombia 0.0039
119 Vietnam 0.0036
120 Cuba 0.0035
121 Peru 0.0032
122 Iran 0.0028
123 Turkmenistan 0.0021
124 Cambodia 0.0018
125 Egypt 0.0014
126 Paraguay 0.0014
127 Guyana 0.0013
128 Tanzania 0.0010
129 Saudi Arabia 0.0009
130 Zimbabwe 0.0008
131 Kenya 0.0007
132 Kuwait 0.0007
133 Guatemala 0.0006
134 Honduras 0.0005
135 Bolivia 0.0004
136 Ecuador 0.0004
137 Iraq 0.0003
138 Ethiopia 0.0001
139 Pakistan 0.0001
140 Nepal 0.0001

A couple of notes:

  • Numbers are per 1,000 habitants and countries with less than 10 members are not included.
  • It’s by postcards sent there received last year (some could have been sent in late 2021)
📈 Top 100 senders
Ranking username Country Postcards
1 Willi Germany 2,319
2 OlafArens Germany 2,311
3 Sidolix Germany 2,265
4 elbe Germany 2,236
5 ho-modellfan Germany 2,235
6 rosenbusch Germany 2,183
7 reinholdo Germany 2,178
8 hepman Germany 2,175
9 BeckyS U.S.A. 2,171
10 Manu86 Germany 2,167
11 Tinaigbi Germany 2,143
12 Silke45 Germany 2,141
13 elfie-luna Germany 2,121
14 Matin Germany 2,118
15 uttia4a Germany 2,110
16 Nordbaer Germany 2,101
17 klausdiemaus Germany 2,091
18 Rehus Germany 2,022
19 esovi Finland 2,005
20 blnbear Germany 1,971
21 heidilura Norway 1,971
22 DJHK Germany 1,964
23 Flicki Germany 1,960
24 ThoreWeiss Germany 1,958
25 slavius Slovakia 1,955
26 Pelke Germany 1,954
27 tullipan Germany 1,937
28 kgcgkg Germany 1,930
29 haweiup Austria 1,928
30 marie61 Germany 1,926
31 Antje321 Germany 1,911
32 Siegie Germany 1,899
33 eagle1 Austria 1,896
34 bas31 Czechia 1,892
35 suegathman U.S.A. 1,886
36 TimSarah Germany 1,881
37 mapcardcollector United Kingdom 1,865
38 DocSchuette Germany 1,854
39 CarminaBurana Canada 1,839
40 Bock Austria 1,824
41 tuareg Germany 1,821
42 Cyranthus Germany 1,818
43 Mollymoritz Germany 1,799
44 gremlin1 Germany 1,783
45 Eckhardt Germany 1,782
46 Ullischka Germany 1,777
47 tilly30318 U.S.A. 1,761
48 mfeda U.S.A. 1,757
49 radiofan Austria 1,755
50 Emillio Czechia 1,755
51 OrangeSunshine U.S.A. 1,747
52 kodzos Ireland 1,745
53 Giegsegaggse Germany 1,740
54 schneggisabrina Switzerland 1,734
55 GeertS Netherlands 1,728
56 Kizza00 Germany 1,717
57 mag-berlin Germany 1,715
58 honeybee Austria 1,707
59 volker-55 Germany 1,703
60 diams1 Switzerland 1,699
61 tomphila U.S.A. 1,698
62 Felice1959 U.S.A. 1,697
63 cambridgediver Germany 1,688
64 christelvonderpost U.S.A. 1,686
65 ned44440 Ireland 1,686
66 tiinama Finland 1,671
67 sasori1027 Japan 1,667
68 Ich_bin_Berliner Germany 1,661
69 LarryHidingHawk U.S.A. 1,660
70 daydreams Netherlands 1,656
71 samquito U.S.A. 1,656
72 sandralux Luxembourg 1,655
73 jwnewman53 U.S.A. 1,654
74 D2M2 U.S.A. 1,653
75 lyo Japan 1,649
76 Minna71 Finland 1,648
77 HalfMoon2018 Germany 1,646
78 sktour Japan 1,638
79 snakedoctor U.S.A. 1,636
80 Shelleh U.S.A. 1,633
81 werewegian United Kingdom 1,627
82 sonataca U.S.A. 1,624
83 PeggyLoh Singapore 1,619
84 Jussi Finland 1,617
85 dodoben Slovakia 1,616
86 Cardeaux Germany 1,607
87 wasserratte Germany 1,605
88 almex Germany 1,602
89 paisdasmaravilhas Portugal 1,601
90 JonathanChua Singapore 1,600
91 ninetails Japan 1,596
92 Barbaella Germany 1,593
93 sarmas Finland 1,592
94 EchoDelta U.S.A. 1,589
95 Mauline Germany 1,584
96 Psychochild Germany 1,572
97 Ramya U.S.A. 1,567
98 VivienSin Hong Kong 1,566
99 -Tiina- Finland 1,563
100 olivia-sternchen Germany 1,553
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When I started Postcrossing in October 2019, the UK was in 14th place, just behind France in 13th. Interesting to see that we’ve moved up so much.

Thanks for this. I always find it interesting.

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Funny to see that tiny Singapore sent more than huge Brazil (and others, but just because I see them next to each other and it caught my eye). Also cool to know that I’m responsible for some of that number (a relatively small part of it, but still).

Definitely interesting to see some stats, thanks @paulo.

(Now I’ll wait for the guy that says there’s less activity than ever and postcrossing is doomed :wink: if he’s still around I’m sure he has enough sense of humour to not be offended by what I just said :))

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Wow, Germany sends a lot of postcards!
How much do stamps cost? Is there a relation between the price of stamps and the number of postcards sent?

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How exciting that we have a U.S. Postcrosser in the top 10 for most sent! Congrats, @BeckyS !

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0,95€ per postcard international -only rectangle allowed- (national 0,70€), letters international (<20g which are not allowed to contain any other than documents) 1,10€

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7

ah Finland in the top 3 (okay, per capita) that does feel a bit like the “old days” when it was amongst the top senders.

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8

wow thanks a lot for sharing this information.
Congratulations to all that made this happen.
And especial congratulation to all that made Portugal be in the 24th place, and my compliments to @paisdasmaravilhas for been in the top 100 list members!

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9

I know that Svalbard :svalbard_and_jan_mayen: was excluded because the number of members is less than 10, but I am curious on which place Svalbard would be if included in the per capita statistics? I attended the world’s northernmost postcrossing meeting there and we sent a huge amount of cards from Longyearbyen! :postbox: :polar_bear:

@France-Montreal there is indeed. Finland used to be the leading postcrossing country around 2010 when our postage cost ~0,75 €. Now it costs over 2 € and the number of postcrossing cards has dropped drastically over the years. The postage from Germany costs almost nothing compared with the neighbouring countries, if the stamp prices in Germany followed the trend of the neighbours, their postage would be ~1,50-1,80 € I think.

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Oh wow, Willi has send ~6 cards EVERY DAY! I had just send my first card few days ago. Impressive! Applause! So much smiles he gave!

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@France-Montreal I would say there’s a connection stamp price-number of postcards sent also for Poland.

When our postage was way cheaper (it’s more than 3x as much now compared to when I started Postcrossing and more or less twice as much as Germany, 1.70 euros at today’s exchange rate), Poland was in top 10 and getting more active every year. Now the trend is exactly the opposite and has been for several years.

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12

A post was merged into an existing topic: Receiving more cards than you send

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Money is a huge factor of course! A stamp for Europe costs ~ 1.63€ and for outside of Europe 1.88€ in the Czech Republic. So more or less twice the price in Germany. But in reality it is more like 4x the price because Czech wages are roughly half of what Germans get.

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14

I’d like to work out a formula on the relationship between a country’s postal costs, minmum wage and postcrossing output :grin:

Netherlands is €1.65 as per this year. Thankssss neoliberalism and privatization of public services :grimacing:

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Thank you for tagging me on this post. I had no idea that I was on the list. Life is so full of surprises :slight_smile:

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The challenge is answering how ‘Svalbardian’ the (wonderful says the lucky recipient) meeting cards are. Because without you guys visiting, not that many cards would have been written by the local capita*.

A statistical dilemma many tiny tourist places face. Similar to per-capita-consumption of beer in a ski resort village or beach district. If you calculate with volume and inhabitants only, without short-term-guests, the locals would be (even more) drunk 24/7 all year long.

Note: Don’t take my thoughts too serious, I don’t want to spoil your experience or deny your cards the honour to be Svalbardian.

*with postcrossing (and the forum) one can learn new things every day. Apparently, capita is plural already (of lat. caput). I have assumed it’s singular (like it is in German Karten/Kopf)

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I understand this, but for the same reason the tiny Åland has topped the per capita ranking for a few years in a row now: the Finnish Postcrossing Friends Association organizes an annual meeting there with around ~100 postcrossers participating.

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Since Svalbard is a part of Norway, they would be included in the numbers for Norway.

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Well, Svalbard is a part of Norway, but not in Postcrossing. Svalbard (+ Jan Mayen) has some sovereignity and is considered a “country” here, with it’s own ID; SJ - SJ-273 is an example of a postcard sent from Svalbard.

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Speaking of postage rates, the United States on 22 Jan raised the price of a postcard from $1.40 to $1.45 for international and from 44¢ to 48¢ for domestic.

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