According to a survey carried out by the Malta Communications Authority, the majority of households claimed to have received and sent the same volumes of addressed letters as two years ago.

However, a significant number of households declared that they have reduced the number of addressed letters and resorted instead to other alternatives such as e-mails and e-commerce. Meanwhile, 38 per cent of these households said that they would switch to non-postal alternatives, should the price of addressed letters be increased by 5-10 per cent.

Results from the survey show that demand for parcel post services has grown. Indeed, in contrast to 47 per cent in 2011, this time more than half of the interviewed households said they had received a parcel during the last 12 months.

One in five of the households revealed that their parcel was delivered by an operator other than Maltapost, with 41 per cent identifying DHL as the delivering operator.