Postal services in Japan 2007

In fiscal 2006 the Japanese postal service reported total mail volume of 24,677.24 million pieces, down 0.6% or 141.38 million pieces from the same period last year. Annual per capita mail volume was 194 items, two pieces less than the previous year. First-Class letters and Second-Class mail made up about 90% of the total volume of mail, and accounted for 21,094.13 million items, down 1.7% from the previous year. Total parcel post volume was 2,317.41 million pieces, up 242.44 million pieces from the previous year due to increased use by department stores and mail-order companies. Operating revenues (excluding internal use by Japan Post) for 2006 was 1.8543 trillion yen, down 0.1%, or 1.3 billion yen from the same period last year. Overall, Japan Post recorded a net income of 942.5 billion yen, down 990.5 billion yen from the previous year’s 1,933.1billion yen. This decline was as a result of incorporating extraordinary gains and losses into net ordinary income, transferring an additional 177.4 billion yen to the policyholders’ dividend reserve in the Postal Life Insurance Service and because money trust management income in the Postal Savings Service fell 1,184.2 billion yen.