Did you hear that sound? It was the sound of postcard number 75 million reaching its recipient and being registered!! Woohoo! 🎉 We’re ¾ of the way to 100 million postcards, which feels like a little unreal… but it’ll still take some years to get there, so we have time to get used to that idea. 😅
And since we’re talking about numbers, January is usually a period where we like to stop a moment to reflect and plan, so it’s a good time to go over how Postcrossing did in 2023. Let’s look at numbers!
4,955,460 postcards received
That’s 38,008 postcards less than in 2022… but overall, not that much of a difference, especially considering all the postage increases.
28.24 average travel days and 18.67 median travel days
That’s a little bit higher than last year, with mail taking on average about a day longer to get to its destinations… which may be explained by the next statistic:
26,736,461,421 kms (16,613,266,909 miles) traveled
26.7 billion kilometers (or 16.6 billion miles)! Pretty impressive, right? Even though we sent less postcards overall, our postcards traveled a 5.5% higher total distance than in 2022! There are still quite a few postal routes not working at the moment, which influences where postcards can be sent.
19,960 kms (12,403 miles) was the longest distance traveled
As is becoming tradition, it’s a postcard from Spain to New Zealand that takes the medal for the card that travels the longest distance! Postcard ES-731128 took 50 days to cover the 19,960 kms that separate Úbeda in southeast Spain) to Tauranga, in New Zealand’s Bay of Plenty!
The average distance a postcard traveled in Postcrossing in 2023 was much less than that though — about 5,395 kms (or 3,352 miles).
1,146,458 postcards were sent from Germany
Woohoo! Our German members have once again taken the cake, thanks to their enthusiasm, reasonable postage prices and to Deutsche Post’s Cards for Literacy campaign… but the USA has slowly been closing their distance in the rankings! Could they one day surpass Germany? We’ll have to see!
| Ranking | Country/Territory | Postcards sent |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 🇩🇪 Germany | 1,146,458 |
| 2 | 🇺🇸 U.S.A. | 956,688 |
| 3 | 🇷🇺 Russia | 402,525 |
| 4 | 🇳🇱 Netherlands | 234,464 |
| 5 | 🇫🇮 Finland | 210,123 |
| 6 | 🇯🇵 Japan | 181,951 |
| 7 | 🇨🇳 China | 166,752 |
| 8 | 🇹🇼 Taiwan | 146,210 |
| 9 | 🇨🇦 Canada | 120,579 |
| 10 | 🇧🇾 Belarus | 117,186 |
| 11 | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | 103,556 |
| 12 | 🇨🇿 Czechia | 90,437 |
| 13 | 🇫🇷 France | 88,759 |
| 14 | 🇵🇱 Poland | 77,736 |
| 15 | 🇦🇺 Australia | 58,809 |
| 16 | 🇮🇳 India | 56,420 |
| 17 | 🇨🇭 Switzerland | 55,540 |
| 18 | 🇦🇹 Austria | 54,559 |
| 19 | 🇮🇹 Italy | 47,709 |
| 20 | 🇱🇹 Lithuania | 47,162 |
For the people who are new to this statistic, let me take a moment to explain that this is the number of postcards sent from these countries which were registered in 2023. That means that there are some postcards in there that were sent in 2022 and registered in 2023, and there are also some postcards requested in 2023 that are not counted in this statistic (those are still traveling and will likely be registered over the next few weeks/months). Looking at postcards registered within a certain timeframe and sticking to it makes it easier to compare with previous years though, so that’s what we usually do.
Shelleh sent the most postcards
So here’s a curious fact: this year, the top 5 senders in Postcrossing were all from the USA: Shelleh (2,483 postcards sent), BeckyS (2,391), suegathman (2,357), Djain (2,284) and christelvonderpost (2,145). All of these members have chosen to also exchange postcards with their own country, which, in a big country like the USA, means that they often send postcards domestically, speeding things up. If we remove domestic postcards from the equation, the members who have sent the most postcards internationally in 2023 were CarminaBurana (Canada), ned44440 (Ireland), diams1 (Switzerland), SMatti (Finland) and tiinama (Finland)!
Åland Islands sent the most postcards per capita
And here’s the usual ranking per capita, for countries and territories with more than 10 members. Some shifting up and down the rankings, but not a lot of big changes overall.
| Ranking | Country/Territory | Postcards per capita* |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 🇦🇽 Åland Islands | 147.6545 |
| 2 | 🇫🇮 Finland | 38.0792 |
| 3 | 🇱🇮 Liechtenstein | 21.8940 |
| 4 | 🇱🇺 Luxembourg | 20.6622 |
| 5 | 🇱🇹 Lithuania | 16.9068 |
| 6 | 🇩🇪 Germany | 13.8248 |
| 7 | 🇳🇱 Netherlands | 13.6071 |
| 8 | 🇧🇾 Belarus | 12.3544 |
| 9 | 🇲🇴 Macao | 10.8433 |
| 10 | 🇪🇪 Estonia | 8.9493 |
| 11 | 🇨🇿 Czechia | 8.5112 |
| 12 | 🇬🇮 Gibraltar | 8.2449 |
| 13 | 🇬🇬 Guernsey | 8.0180 |
| 14 | 🇱🇻 Latvia | 6.8226 |
| 15 | 🇨🇭 Switzerland | 6.5214 |
| 16 | 🇹🇼 Taiwan | 6.2345 |
| 17 | 🇦🇹 Austria | 6.1669 |
| 18 | 🇸🇮 Slovenia | 5.9796 |
| 19 | 🇬🇺 Guam | 5.9481 |
| 20 | 🇭🇰 Hong Kong | 5.0911 |
October 1, 2023 was the day in which more postcards were sent
No big surprise there! 🙃 World Postcard Day is the day to send postcards, and postcrossers have embraced this cause with relish. Apart from this day (and September 30, which is already World Postcard Day in some countries), the other top 10 days with most postcards sent in Postcrossing are all in the first three months of the year.
January 18, 2023 was the day in which more postcards were received
A lot of postcards from Germany arrive all throughout January, so there are several January days in the ranking of “days with most postcards received”. Other peak days are 11th October (World Postcard Day cards, we assume), 29 of December (post-holidays)… and 31st of May, for some inexplicable reason! 🤔
Postcards were sent from 221 countries and received on 159 countries
So you might be wondering, how can postcards be sent from 221 countries (and territories), when Postcrossing only has members in 201? It’s the magic of Travel Mode! This year, our members really went for those exotic locations, and we saw postcards being sent from places like Cocos Islands, Burkina Faso, Nauru or Turks and Caicos! That said, the number of countries and territories in which our members have received postcards has also increased (from 153 in 2022 to 159 last year), which is good news!
13,015 new forum topics and 805,416 forum posts in 2023
Woohoo! The forum continues to grow, little by little, which is heartwarming. Community is about people coming together, and the forum is the place where that happens for postcrossers.
And speaking of forum, here’s a new statistic for this annual post:
1,826 meetups in 62 countries
Pretty impressive, right? We wish there was a way of quantifying how many friendships have been made in the years the project has been running, but these things are hard to count. Still, it’s nice to know connections are being made and friends are getting together around postcards!
11,731 emails replies
And last (but definitely not least), our support team has replied to an Everest-sized amount of queries by you all, sent to us via the contact form. One of our goals for 2023 was to get some help dealing with these, and we did — Iris (aka scrutiny) is now part of our support team, replying to your requests for help every day… and helping the rest of the team have a bit more time for other tasks.
That’s it for 2023! Time to look ahead, plan 2024 and make exciting things happen! What will YOU be up to this year? And do you have any exciting postcard-related goals you’d like to share?
PS: Some of you might have noticed we didn’t run the usual annual Postcrossing census last December. It’s a lot of work to process all the census data, and since these things don’t tend to change that much in the span of a year, we’ve decided to switch it to a biennial format. It’ll be back in December 2024, but in the meantime, you can send your tips and feedback to the team through the contact form… or on a postcard, for bonus points! 😊
PPS: For those of you who would like to see longer rankings (which are cumbersome to put on a blog post), here they are!
79 comments so far
Thanks for the wrap-up! And a BIG shout out to Iris who was an immense help when I was traveling!
I love this. Thanks for all the analysis.
Amazing!!!
Great stats summary. Thanks.
Woo hoo! Congratulations to everyone for crossing 75 million cards and also thank you for making 2023 a postcard filled year. ❤️❤️❤️ Here is to another postcard filled year! 💖💖💖💖
Very impressive!
Thank you for all that you do to keep us connected to the world!
Wow! That's amazing :) I really enjoyed reading the statistics. Thank you for another wonderful year of Postcrossing a mile stone year for me.
I wonder what the top 10 "rarest" countries that posted were?!
Very interesting !!!👍👍👍
Well done to each and every member!!
FASCINATING!!! Thank you so much for sharing!!!
Very interesting statistics. Thank you for all you do!!
I enjoy seeing the yearly numbers
Very, very interesting! A big thank you to the Postcrossing team for everything that you do for all of us! Here’s to another great year!
How interesting! It inspires me to keep writing and sending postcards, even with the postage rates going up-- between purchasing my postcards and paying for international postage, that $3.50 for each one. That is quite a chunk of change, so I have had to send fewer at a time. On the other hand, speaking of making friendships, I haven't done a meet-up, but I have made several new pen pal friends!
Wow! Thanks PC Team! This is all so interesting.
and I was #1! So amazing. Love Postcorssing!
The annual statistics post is my favorite blog post every year! I'm happy to have brought Postcrossing to a new country, Nauru, this year! To many more!
Congratulations to the Postcrossing team! You have created a wonderful thing. I give thanks for you everyday. <3
Very interesting!
Thank you 👍
India is catching up! We will soon be progressing ahead, thanks to the Postcrossing Welfare Society of India and many more amazing people and organizations like Daakroom, working to promote Postcards in education.
Very interesting information. Thank you for the time it took to sort it all out. Happy 2024
Have you have to love the Stats...
I like statistics, so I am happy to read these numbers :) my personal goal for 2024 is to send more cards :) and finally become more active sender (and receiver, lol). I am moving to a rather rare country in Postcrossing in colder months but more active in summer due to travel mode ;) and I hope to be in top 20 in this country :D
Happy Postcrossing in 2024 to everyone!
Great! So many interesting statistics!
I wonder which are the six new countries in which Postcrossing members have received postcards... How is it possible to know?
I am happy to see my name in the ones who sent the most internationnaly in 2023. :D Yabadabadou! LOL
A shout-out to christelvonderpost #5 in the Postcrossing world this past year!
Fun blog-thank you!
Fun!
Thanks for the data, love looking at that!
And once again, it can't be said often enough - THANK YOU Postcrossing team for all the hard work!
I love these stats each year and am very happy to have made the list of most postcards sent internationally in 2023 😁
we have a lot of members. curious how many accounts are more than 5 years old and no longer actively participating. didn’t know I had made the list, such a fun hobby.
Love receiving this information. Thank you.
I LOVE reading all of these statistics - they are fascinating! And THANK YOU so much for creating and hosting and running Postcrossing. I've been a member since 2010 and it has enriched my life so much and I have met several good friends via Postcrossing. :)
These stats are always so much fun!! Thank you!!
Great top-off for 2023........nicely commented n valuable input. Makes us feel great doing PostCrossing n continue to do so........cheers to the team n to the PostCrossers too.......
Very interesting! Thanks!
Happy to see the information..
Thank you for the numbers. We so greatly appreciate all that you and this site do to keep the world's citizens connected. 🎉💕
Yay Sue!
2024 will be my 5th year on Postcrossing. Here's to sending & receiving joy through postcards throughout this year! 🙌
Thanks for the breakdown of 2023 - it's really interesting to see how the numbers stack up in different categories!
Interesting stats! Loving it!
Very interesting, thank you!
Well done to all of you at the Crystal Mountain HQ!
A huge effort on your part and it was most interesting to read.
Many thanks to all concerned. Onwards and upwards.
As you say...whoohoo!
Chris
Huge congrats to us all on these impressive numbers!!
On a more personal note, it is heart warming to see so many people in the world doing good and taking their time to bring joy to the lives of random strangers on the other side of the world. I feel less lonely today, so thank you for that. :-)
Thanks for this information. It was enjoyable to read it.
Impressive infos! Thanks @meiadeleite aka ANA :) for the wrap-up!
Thank you so much for sharing the information! It's so interesting to read 🤗
Wow! That's a lot of air miles!
Knowing that you offset carbon by planting trees, I'm sure you work this out, but do we know the average carbon footprint for a card?
Very interesting. Thank you for sharing this information with us.
Thanks for putting together all of these interesting 2023 postcrossing facts for us!
Thanks for the wrap-up and for putting together these interesting figures!
Love this blogpost and the stats! Thank you! 🙂
The fact that got me is 18 Jan was the day when most postcards were registered, and my birthday as well...
Thanks for the amazing stats...
Thank you for the many interesting details. Looking forward to further good exchanges in this wonderful group. That was a really great idea at the time. I'm very happy that I was able to join Poistcrososing
I always love reading the stats!
My goal for 2023 was to hit 1000 each on sent and received postcards but I kind of slacked off on sending at points so I didn’t quite get there (less than 30 to go for each!). So my first “mini” goal for 2024 is to reach that milestone. I need to give some thought to anything beyond that. I definitely want to stay more active so I might have a goal of sending a certain number of postcards each month to help with that.
Impressive and thanx, also for the data in the PPS.
I love Postcrossing because....
Thanks for caring and pauing attention to every detail in this community. Things work well because of your effort.
Reading these rankings that span the entire world, shows a comforting aspect of humanity.
So there are still people who express kindness in their gestures, and appreciate the beauty of patiently waiting for the long journey of a simple postcard!
And this postcard, posted in a letterbox, will be received by an unaware postcrosser, perhaps almost 20 thousand kilometers away.
For me, all of this is really beautiful, and I find comfort in this community, recovering the smile that we often risk losing in our hectic days.
Thanks to all of you, friends from every country, wishing everyone a peaceful 2024 from Rome, Italy, with the hope that even the hardest and most refractory hearts can melt and contribute to overcoming differences and conflicts that on too many occasions flare up in the world.
Here! Here! What at61 said! <3
What a great census it is! I love this more with specific data. Thanks a lot!
Congratulations, everyone! :)
Let's make this year even better.
Thank you sooooooo much!!!! :O))
Always fascinating to look over the stats, very much appreciate you taking the time to give us all yet another gift!
Amazing!
I love these annual reviews. Big thanks! Greetings to you all! Have an interesting year 2024!
I would like to know how many inquiries about wrong/missing id were there, and how many of them were resolved
Thank you, Postcrossing Team, for ALL the work you are doing and have done for 75million plus postcards and counting! It's definitely a WOW Moment reaching this particular milestone/peak, but 100million is fast approaching and will be here before we know it.
Many of us remember the little "hills" of 5/10/20/and even 50million postcards -- for me, Postcrossing simply continues to represent the wonderful and positive connections we all need right now.
Greetings to everyone in the Postcrossing community -- looking forward to our exchanges this coming year.
Congrats to all of us❤❤
Amazing! Wish you all the best in new 2024 year. Hope we will have more postcards from exotic countries!
Thank you for this wonderful program and also for the statistics about 2023 activity! I LOVE Postcrossing!!
That’s just amazing!
Postcards do connect the World!!!
Fanstastic statistics all round! I am celebrating my own today with receipt of my 50th postcard woop! woop! Well done ned44440 for pushing up the numbers for Ireland.
Loved reading the roundup post! Big thank you to the Postcrossing team!!
So great to read the stats. I love this part of Postcrossing the most. Thank you very much for all the work you've done. Just one additional question: Might it possible to got to know how many postcards per year have been written while using travel mode? I am so glad to use that, even when I travel within my own country.
I love our regular stats in postcrossing. Thank you very much.
Soooo interesting to read!!! Thanks for the work and dedication to put this all together! Sending you all lots of love from Germany!
Amazing Stats....!
t h a n k s
such a great statistics! Irecognize few of the commenting users here that I sent postcards to! ;-)
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