Another year, another opportunity to compile some statistics and look at Postcrossing through numbers! This year we added some new data, so let’s dig in, starting by how many postcards arrived in 2022:
4,993,468 postcards received
That’s 5.6% less postcards than last year… which is completely understandable, given the state of the world.
27.53 average travel days and 17.75 median travel days
The average number of days a postcard travels until it reaches its destination is a little higher than before… but the median travel time is not, which is good news! The median is a better statistic than the average, as it is less affected by the extremes (which are usually outliers). This year’s median travel time of 17.75 days is lower’s than last year’s 18.12 days.
25,338,239,130 kms (15,744,451,857 miles) traveled
A number that is just 1.7% lower than last year, despite the 5.6% difference in postcards received… which indicates that, on average, our postcards travelled a little bit further in 2022. Still, a huge distance that our collective postcards have travelled… the equivalent of 632,270 laps around the world or 32,958 return trips to the moon!
20,001 kms (12,428 miles) was the longest distance traveled
For the third year in a row, it was a postcard traveling between Spain and New Zealand that accumulated the longest distance in Postcrossing. This year, we even broke the 20,000km record, with postcard ES-683224, which traveled between Pontevedra (in the region of Galicia, in the north of Spain), and Greymouth, on the west coast of New Zealand’s south island.
The average distance that a postcard traveled was about a fourth of that: 5,074 kms (3,153 miles).
1,197,918 postcards were sent from Germany
No surprise here, our very enthusiastic German members top the chart once more! So, looking at all the postcards that were received in 2022, where were they sent from? Here’s the top 20 countries on this ranking:
| Ranking | Country/Territory | Postcards 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 |
The number of “Postcards sent” is a counterintuitive metric, so let me make a little pause here for a quick explanation: this is the number of postcards sent from these countries which were registered in 2022. That means that there are some postcards in there that were sent in 2021 and registered in 2022, and there are also some postcards requested in 2022 that are not counted in this statistic (those are still traveling and will likely be registered over the next few weeks/months). Limiting this number to a certain timeframe and sticking to it makes it easier to compare with previous years though, so that’s what we usually do.
Willi sent the most postcards
A lot of postcards were put on their way by our German postcrossers, with Willi at the top of the rankings with a total of 2,319 postcards sent (that were received in 2022), followed very closely by OlafArens, with 2,311 postcards — that was a tight race! The rest of the top 5 members with most postcards sent is composed of Sidolix (2,265 postcards), elbe (2,236 postcards), and ho-modellfan (2,235 postcards).
Åland Islands sent the most postcards per capita
No surprise here, Åland continues to be the top country in postcards per capita. Here’s the rest of the top 20 list:
| 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 |
(*) This ranking is calculated per 1,000 inhabitants, for countries with at least 10 members.
October 1, 2022 was the day in which more postcards were sent
World Postcard Day continues to be the day in which more postcards are sent, which makes us extra happy! Other days with lots of postcards sent are December 1st (the start of the Postcards for a Good Cause campaign), and also random days in January and February.
January 12, 2022 was the day in which more postcards were received
Looks like maybe a mini avalanche of postcards arrived to their destinations after the holiday period in December! Other good days are a little scattered throughout January and February, and around the middle of October too.
Postcards were sent from 201 countries and received on 153 countries
Can you guess why the big difference in numbers? That’s right — quite a few postcards from exotic locations are sent in Travel Mode every year. Often, there are no active members in those countries or territories, so there is no one there to receive postcards… but they can still be sent from there by traveling postcrossers, to delight some unsuspecting postcrossers!
12,669 new forum topics and 804,060 forum posts in 2022
This is a new statistic, and one we’re quite happy about! The forum is buzzing with activity these days, with games, chats and swaps happening all around the clock. Hurray!
13,127 emails replies
This is the number of replies sent to emails that came to us via the site’s contact form, with requests for help. That’s a lot of emails, and a big chunk of how the team’s time is spent… so this year, we’ll be looking for some help with support tasks. If this is something up your alley, keep an eye on the forum! We’ll post something there soon.
And I think that’s about it for this year’s statistics! What do you think? Does any number stand out to you, or are there perhaps other things you think we should be tracking and comparing, year to year? Let us know in the comments!
PS: We know it’s always frustrating when your country is not featured in a top ranking… so we published the full country list on this forum post, as well as a few more rankings.
PS – Happy Lunar New Year! 🎊
69 comments so far
What a lovely load of statistics! 2022 will be a year I remember fondly as the one I joined postcrossing :)
Thank you to the postcrossing-team for your work!!
Thanks for the numbers and getting to know them. Happy Postcrossing!
Always a load of great and comprehensive statistics. Keep up the good work!
Thank you for information!
Love, love, love your stats ... million thanks for them and all you do!
Yours in Postcrossing, Louise
I've long wondered what is it about the Germans that make them so much more active than any other country. Do Germans value postal mail more? Are their postage rates cheaper? It's an interesting question.
Thank you for the fascinating and revealing number-crunching! I especially love your qualifiers around “postcards sent”. What a beautifully intricate system Postcrossing is. Thank you, thank you for all your hard work over the past year <3
Thank you for the cool statistics, I always enjoy those.
I was wondering about rate of expirations? My personal rate doubled this past year. It had been pretty stable for years but took a leap in 22. I was wondering if that was true overall?
Appreciate all your hard work!
@Brooks_of_Sheffield
Yes, the postage rates in Germany compared to other countries is really cheap ;)
What does "per capita" mean? if a postcrosser can answer my question...
2022 is the year I reached my limit of 100 postcards traveling and made it within the ranking of the top 100 group of pc’s sent and distance traveled in the US! I continue to enjoy Postcrossing so much… I love writing postcards thoughtfully and receiving them gratefully… connecting with others beyond my wildest dreams!
Thanks a lot for sharing! And Happy Postcrossing!
@mymyc59 "Per capita" means "for every person in the country" — or, in this case specifically, for every 1000 people. :)
I always love these stats.
The shipment from Spain is very expensive, unfortunately 😞
Europe 1’65 €
I'm a world of 1’75€
Russia, Japan, Usa, Canada, Australia and New Zealand 2’10€
What price is it in your country?
I have been a member of this lovely group since 2006, and have seen a lot of changes over the years. When I first started, Finland was the biggest country for Postcrossing. So much so that I thought "I'm sure that Finland is a nice country, but I wish that I could get postcards from someplace else besides Finland." Nowadays, it's Germany that dominates. And I continue to enjoy Postcrossing. It's always a pleasure to see postcards from anywhere in the world in the mailbox!
I asked from my partner and postcrosser Andry questions based on your stats. The countries guessed everything correctly. (top 3) The numerical answers surprised us both. We didn't know such a long distance was even possible. Very interesting statistics!
Excellent statistics
hello SUXIES from Spain, in Belgium also stamps are expensive. Year after year prices raise.
This year for 1 stamp :
europe € 2,53 ( in 2022 € 2,09 )
world € 2.75 ( in 2022 € 2.31 )
Nevertheless: Stay calm and happy Postcrossing ;-) !
greetings from the Belgian coast, Lies (Liz)
These statistics were really interesting and fun to read about! Thanks for taking the time to figure them out and then to post them!
Postage for a postcard from Germany to anywhere in the world is € 0.95. Anyone can afford that.
I wonder how many postcards were expired this year? :)
What a fun statistics, happy new year everyone! May the year 2023 bring us more fun, love & kindness send through postcards. 💞
Interesting stats, and thanks for all the support!
The shipping cost from Japan to overseas is a flat rate of 70JPY.
About 0.498€, about 0.54$.
Not much different from 63JPY for domestic sending.
But GOTOCHI card shipping cost is higher.
Thank you so much for existing, postcrossing!!
Thank you so much for giving us again the interesting statistics behind Postcrossing. If possible I would love to see the numbers of cards which have been sent in travel mode. It is so amazing how much effort you do to prepare us with those data.
Thanks for the fascinating 2022 statistics. Really interesting!
Canadian international postage is presently $2.71, or about 1.9 euros.
There is no postcard rate - this is the letter rate. So yes, I will not start sending 6 cards a day.
By comparison when I was in Taiwan last year a stamp for a postcard to Canada or Europe cost only 14 TWD, or 0.42 euros. Well those cards did take 4 to 6 weeks to arrive ...
Us rate is $1.40. Thanks for stats!
I am glad to know these datas!
Great article, many interesting statistics.
Thanks to staff for your time in answering my share of emails.
I wonder if an Aland resident would share why they send so many postcards. . .
A Swiss postcard to Europe has been costing Sfr. 1.80 for a year now, and Sfr. 2.30 outside Europe (In Euro it is about the same with small fluctuations) that's really expensive.
stamps prices in italy:
italy to italy: 1,20 euro
italy to europe, russia and countries facing on mediterranean sea: 1,25
italy to the rest of the world: 2,40
italy to oceania: 3,10
these stats are very intresting, maybe some stats about expired postcards would be interesting too
It's $3 NZ to post a postcard now.
Every year it's gone up in the past 5 years and I say that I need to stop... but I cannot. I love this hobby way too much! The people connected with Postcrossing are all really great.
I would like to see the ranking of the average speed of sending and receiving a postcard for all countries.
Great stats, thanks for sharing.
Was fun to read :)
Thanks for the update of 2022 and the work behind this great pleasure of postcrossing were we meet other people.
wow- if I sent as many cards as willi it would cost $3,362.55 ( the price went up by 5c), but you know what, if I had the time I probably would as I love it!
The top three countries account for about half of the postcards. I don't know what the solution is, but I know some new Postcrossers feel disappointed that much of the world isn't really represented on Postcrossing.
Great stats. Good job. :)
Stats are fun toys ;)
Thanks for the interesting statistics.
Very interesting! Thanks for sharing the statistics :)
As with every year, I deeply appreciate the effort your team goes to to put this information together. I know that a lot of people get hung up on which country participates the most or what addresses are drawn most frequently; I would like to point out that we don't send cards to countries, we send cards to postcrossers. Just a thought.
As others have mentioned, I would like to see statistics on how many cards expire, and on how many never get registered, both at a global level and at a personal level. I could not find this in my personal stats, if there is a way to see it I'd love to know! While I know our postal rates in the U.S.A are some of the cheaper ones out there they are going up again tomorrow (from $1.40 to $1.45 per card). My partner asked me how many of the cards I send actually get through, and how that compares to averages for the rest of the world, and I am frustrated not to be able to answer that question.
Hi, Finally Canada is on the 10th place for most send! Hiep Hiep Hoera!
I think the reason why many of the more interesting countries to receive postcards from do not send as much, is indeed the prices of stamps. I send a postcard to Europe for 1.5€, not including the price of the postcard from the VERY LIMITED selection we have here. Our wages are below average the EU median and average and our postage is more expensive.
I do not blame the Germans for sending so many. Double our wages, half of our stamp prices.
I love receiving postcards from Germany! They have always been so lovely and I have made some amazing Penpals from there :-)
I wish Australia had more Post Crossers!!!
Rates in Australia in 2023 are:
New Zealand- $2.60
Asia Pacific- $2.90
US and Canada- $3.50
UK and Europe- $3.70
Rest of the world- $4.00
It would be interesting to see what the most 'liked' postcard was last year :-)
I suspect the stats are skewed this year by the delays in China and war in Ukraine. Both were significant postcrossing nations.
Lets hope we see resolution soon with these situations
Thank you for these statistics and Happy Lunar New Year! 🎆
can you include links to previous years' stats blogs post at the end of the posts in the upcoming years? just a minor detail that makes it easier than scrolling thru archives! understandable if not, as the work put into this is already fantastic and insanely a huge undertaking!
As a statistics nerd, I love reading these updates!! 😍🎉
I love this!! Thank you for sharing!!
Last year Chilean postcrossers had quite a bit more action than previous years: on December 10th we had our first meetup after some years! And I saw more new members that signed up these last months. Probably the cheap rate is helping (just about US$0,60 for sending postcards abroad) to grow the Chilean Postcrossing community 😅
Rates in the UK (Airmail) 2023:
£0.68/0.95 UK ($0.84/1.17)
£1.85 Overseas ($2.28)
Rates in China (PR of)
￥0.80 PR China ($0.12)
￥3.50 HK/MO/TW ($0.52)
￥5.00 Overseas ($0.74)
Thanks for the statistics! 春节快乐！
Thanks a lot for sharing! Suggesting also including stats about the expired postcards, Happy Postcrossing!
Thank you for sharing! It would be lovely to know the stats of new members and why not, the least number of postcards that are sent from a country. So, that would be a challenge for this country to make it the next year :)
Happy Postcrossing!
Love the stats. How intetesting! How about sharing how many new members join each year?
Thanks a lot for the interesting statistics! 😃 It's great to be part of this project.
Thanks for the stats!
Let's go for 2023
Thanks for the stats. Also some comments were very informative. Up until now I have never thought about how expensive postcrossing can be in other countries. All the more, I will appreciate the incoming cards, in the future.
That's so great to read! In Dec. I celebrated 10 years with PC and it's my first year reading annual stats :D I feel personally included as I was able to use travel mode in the Vatican city in 2022 making happy quite few fellow postcrossers with a card from a rare destination :) I also sent from Spain and the UK via Travel Mode which was fun as well :) Happy Postcrossing to all in 2023!
Great statistics, great support, great performance !!! Thank You very, very much and keep on the good work.
Amazing Numbers! Thank you for sharing this lovely statistic.
Thank you! The stats are interesting, and my partner finds this information particularly fascinating, even though he’s not participating in Postcrossing himself.
Those are the stats I love. Thank you.
Thanks for combing through all the survey responses and putting this together. I always find it interesting to read, though I wonder if it might be easier for you to create an infographic on Canva next year....? Just a suggestion. And although it's sad that overall the numbers are down (even one less would be but so many fewer.... 😢) I'm glad that Postcrossing continues to thrive and bring joy to so many people.
Thank you for taking the time to list the statistics. What an undertaking!!!!
Great work as always. Demaris
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