Kenya’s postal and courier service sub-sector posted improved revenues last year despite a drop in the volume of letters sent.
The sub-sector recorded revenue growth of 8.4 per cent in the 12 months to June 30, this year, according to data from the Communications Authority of Kenya.
According to Sector Statistics Report Q4 2022-2023, the revenue from the sub-sector increased to Sh7.7 billion from Sh7.1 billion reported over the same period last year.
In the review period, the national postal revenue increased by 10.4 per cent year-on-year, reaching Sh2.8 billion, compared to Sh2.5 billion in the previous year.
The international postal revenue saw a 7.3 per cent increase, rising to Sh4.9 billion from Sh4.6 billion.
Despite a 20 per cent decline in outgoing domestic letters in the fourth quarter of the year to June, compared to the previous quarter to March 2023, year-on-year outgoing domestic letters grew 87.3 per cent to 2.1 million from 1.1 million.
“During the fourth quarter of 2022/23 financial year, the volume of domestic letters dropped to 496,598 whereas the volume of domestic courier items grew by 14.9 per cent to post 1.2 million items,” reads the report.
The volume of domestic courier items dispatched witnessed a 10.4 per cent growth, reaching 4.7 million compared to the previous year's 4.2 million.
Likewise, international outgoing letters experienced a 12.7 per cent increase, rising to 1.8 million from the prior year's 1.6 million.
Concurrently, the number of letters sent within the country surged to 497,938 from 404,769, marking a noteworthy 23 per cent year-on-year escalation.
During the reviewed period, the postal and courier services sub-sector also recorded job reductions, resulting in a decrease in the total number of employees from 5,919 to 5,793.
"The employee count within the postal and courier sub-sector stood at 5,793 as of June 2023, with a gender distribution of 67 per cent male and 33 per cent female," stated the regulator.
These job cuts predominantly impacted female employees, whose numbers dwindled from 2,113 in the previous year to 1,921 by June 30, 2023.
In contrast, the number of male employees in the sub-sector rose from 3,806 to 3,872, according to the provided data.