Another year has flown by in a blur of stamps, mailbox walks, and little moments of connection… and that means it’s time for one of our favorite traditions: looking back at the year through the numbers. So, without further ado… here’s Postcrossing in numbers for 2025!
4,846,355 postcards received
That’s almost 4.9 million little pieces of paper that made someone smile, taught them a fun fact, or simply arrived at just the right moment. 🥰
30.2 average travel days and 20.2 median travel days
As always, postcards traveled at wildly different speeds — some arrived in just a few days, while others took the scenic route (and occasionally a long nap in a sorting center). The median travel time gives a nice “typical postcard” picture: about three weeks from one mailbox to another. It’s a bit sad to slowly see these numbers go up over the years… but not much we can do about that.
26,797,284,438 kms (16,651,060,580 miles) traveled
It’s always hard to wrap your head around this one… but it’s a lot of distance powered by handwritten messages and tiny stamps — farther than the most distant human-made object in space (currently at about 169 AU, or ~25.3 billion km away). 🤯
19,982 kms (12,416 miles) was the longest distance traveled
This time, instead of a postcard from Spain to New Zealand, it was a postcard from New Zealand to Spain (NZ-266139) that took the longest route, almost 20,000 km! We hope it enjoyed the ride from Feilding to Barraco! These two countries are antipodes and both have a fair number of postcrossers, which is why they’re so often featured in this particular statistic.
The average distance a postcard traveled in Postcrossing in 2025 was around 5,529 kms (or 3,436 miles) — more or less the distance between London and New York, or from Tokyo to Singapore!
1,092,822 postcards were sent from Germany
As they have done for a long time, Germany takes the top spot again this year — and as always, we’re a little in awe of the dedication of German Postcrossers. 👏 There are fewer postcards being sent from there than in previous years, but this is understandable, given last year’s increase in postage.
Here’s a snapshot of other countries in the top 20:
| Ranking | Country/Territory | Sent |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 🇩🇪 Germany | 1,092,822 |
| 2 | 🇺🇸 U.S.A. | 953,658 |
| 3 | 🇷🇺 Russia | 290,908 |
| 4 | 🇳🇱 Netherlands | 253,435 |
| 5 | 🇨🇳 China | 245,983 |
| 6 | 🇫🇮 Finland | 179,944 |
| 7 | 🇯🇵 Japan | 165,404 |
| 8 | 🇧🇾 Belarus | 150,659 |
| 9 | 🇹🇼 Taiwan | 149,039 |
| 10 | 🇨🇦 Canada | 96,984 |
| 11 | 🇬🇧 U.K. | 91,179 |
| 12 | 🇫🇷 France | 82,624 |
| 13 | 🇨🇿 Czechia | 77,586 |
| 14 | 🇨🇭 Switzerland | 70,601 |
| 15 | 🇵🇱 Poland | 69,998 |
| 16 | 🇦🇹 Austria | 68,207 |
| 17 | 🇦🇺 Australia | 65,827 |
| 18 | 🇮🇳 India | 61,829 |
| 19 | 🇮🇹 Italy | 55,841 |
| 20 | 🇪🇸 Spain | 47,348 |
As expected, Europe, North America, and Asia continue to be the strongest continents in Postcrossing!
Shelleh sent the most postcards
A big round of applause to Shelleh, who sent the most postcards in 2025 (2475) and recovered her crown from 2023! 🎉 Amazing!
Åland Islands sent the most postcards per capita
And for the “postcards per capita” crown… Åland Islands! This ranking always makes us smile, because it highlights places where Postcrossing has become a real community habit.
| Ranking | Country/Territory | Postcards per capita* |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 🇦🇽 Åland Islands | 197.971 |
| 2 | 🇫🇮 Finland | 32.019 |
| 3 | 🇱🇮 Liechtenstein | 29.172 |
| 4 | 🇧🇾 Belarus | 16.497 |
| 5 | 🇱🇺 Luxembourg | 14.602 |
| 6 | 🇳🇱 Netherlands | 14.085 |
| 7 | 🇩🇪 Germany | 13.085 |
| 8 | 🇱🇹 Lithuania | 11.619 |
| 9 | 🇲🇴 Macao | 11.029 |
| 10 | 🇨🇭 Switzerland | 7.840 |
| 11 | 🇪🇪 Estonia | 7.639 |
| 12 | 🇬🇬 Guernsey | 7.436 |
| 13 | 🇦🇹 Austria | 7.432 |
| 14 | 🇨🇿 Czechia | 7.115 |
| 15 | 🇹🇼 Taiwan | 6.355 |
| 16 | 🇬🇺 Guam | 5.877 |
| 17 | 🇱🇻 Latvia | 5.322 |
| 18 | 🇬🇮 Gibraltar | 5.162 |
| 19 | 🇭🇰 Hong Kong | 5.126 |
| 20 | 🇸🇮 Slovenia | 4.830 |
(*) This ranking is calculated per 1,000 inhabitants, for countries with at least 10 members.
October 1 was the day in which the most postcards were sent in 2025 (83,069)
Naturally, October 1 (World Postcard Day) stands out as the busiest sending day of the year — a truly impressive spike of postcards heading out into the world. If you were part of that wave, thank you!
October 1 was the day in which the most postcards were received in 2025 (19,576)
And on the receiving side, unexpectedly, October 1 also takes the top spot! Clearly, it was a very postcardy day! 😊
Postcards were sent from 226 countries and received in 163 countries
This is one of those numbers that always makes us pause. Postcrossing is, at its heart, a global project — and seeing postcards being sent from 226 different countries and territories is a reminder of how far this community reaches… and also, how popular the Travel Mode has become over the years!
13,049 new forum topics and 912,468 forum posts in 2025
The forum continued to be a very lively place in 2025 — for sharing postcard joy, asking questions, organizing swaps and meetups, celebrating milestones, and (of course) showing off beautiful postcards and stamps. If you’ve ever thought “I should check out this forum thing”… this is your sign!
2,329 meetups in 66 countries
And speaking of community: meetups! From big gatherings to tiny café meetups, it’s always wonderful to see Postcrossers turning postcards into real-life friendships. 2025 was an anniversary year and thus saw a big spike in the number of meetups taking place around the world — about 27% more than tje previous year. If you’ve never been to one, what are you waiting for?
12,597 email replies
Behind the scenes, the team kept busy too — replying to emails, helping with accounts, and untangling the occasional postcard mystery. Thank you for your patience and kindness whenever you write to us.
And that’s 2025 in numbers! We hope these little stats snapshots can help give you a big picture of what Postcrossing is like. Whether you sent 5 postcards or 500, thank you for being part of this project and for keeping our analog corner of the internet alive.
Here’s to another year of happy mail, pretty stamps, and postcard-sized surprises in 2026! 💙
PS: For those of you who would like to see longer rankings that don’t fit on a blog post, here they are.
73 comments so far
Wow, great statistics! A special thanks to the Postcrossing team! If an ID number is missing or unclear, you get the answer in minutes. Fantastic!
If only Russian Post worked properly we could send more.
My favorite blog of the year !
As a number- and stats buff, I even dig up last years numbers and see how they have evolved.
Thank you Paulo and team.
A big thanks to Ana and Paolo without whom there would be no such Postcrossing pleasure across the planet!
I really love seeing these statistics!
That's so interesting statistics to see ❤️
I am amazed of all kind of statistics:) And especially proud and happy to be back on the active track 👣 🙂❤️Postcrossing is something I have always enjoyed! Thank you!
Thank you so much - I always enjoy reading the annual statistics! It is amazing to realise all this and being Part of it 🙂
I want to add my thanks to Willi's to the team that helps. I had hardly put the postcard down after detailing all the information I could on the postcard and started registering the second postcard when my email program alerted me that I had an answer. THANK YOU so much for your time and help.
Seeing the stats was lots of fun, especially as I was able to send postcards from six countries in the "top sent per capita" statistics via travel mode.
This is always so interesting and refreshing to read. Thank you
Sehr interessant diese Jahresstatistik!!
Eine Karte von mir war innerhalb von Deutschland 353 Tage unterwegs...😳🙈
Die Deutsche Post machts möglich 😂😂
Thank you for sharing this info - love it!
Wow! Another year as #1! Proud to be part of this community. Thank you Postcrossing!
Love the connections I get to make every day with so many people in so many parts of the world.
Always interesting, & mind boggling, to see those numbers.
Thank you to each of you who work so hard!!
Love to read all the statistics❤️. Let's make 2026 a wonderful Postcrossing year too!
Wow! What a lot of work has gone into all this info, thank you team!
It is so interesting to see all these stats. :)
I love stats! This is wonderful! Thank you!
Really interesting facts 👍🏻
Comparing to some previous years, I would say snow mail is taking longer to arrive. Not only due to wars (sadly) but also due to less organize mail distribution and (maybe?!) economic reasons (lack of interest when comparing to the daily millions of e-business, all around the globe) 😔
An example of this (and it was sad news) is the recent announcement that in Denmark they no longer send individual letters/postcards...! Let's hope this doesn't become a trend! The world is already sufficiently distanced, censored, and silenced on social media and in the mainstream media. I believe what this World need more empathy, hope, courage, smiles, and gentleness, something that slow writing promotes more easily 🫶
Spain - New Zealand fact was pretty cool! I wonder whether there’s a way to feature a random postrcrosser in every stats newsletter using the same system that chooses random people to send postcards to. Could be fun!
i am suprised how china is ranking nr 5 as country is so digitalizing everything and Finland is on 6 th due expensive stamps
Hello.
Thank you for all this work, which makes for fascinating reading.
Unfortunately, the postage stamp is getting more expensive every day; Spanish mail is incredibly expensive... a postcard to Europe costs €2.00
Rest of the world: €2.10
Usa, Japan, Urss, Australia, New Zeland and Canada- 2,65€
Love seeing these statistics! Thanks to you for all your behind-the-scenes work and to all Postcrossers, and a happy postal new year to all! 🙂
That’s incredible!! Good work everyone! I’m excited to grow my postcard collection & to meeting new people !!
Postcrossing is the best community and it brings so much positivity to a world that desperately needs it. Thank you to everyone involved! :)
Very interesting statistics! But I haven't received many postcards this year and I've been blocked. I feel like an outcast! I wish everyone well and good health! I love postcrossing! I hope for the best.
Incredible stats! I'm new to it all, but I'm loving being a part of this beautiful thing. Happy 2026 posting everyone.
Thank you to the postcrossing team for all their behind the scene work!
Another great year of Postcrossing! A big thank you to the entire Postcrossing team. <3
Thank you for sharing this interesting statistic, Postcrossing Team. As a newbie, I'm proud to be part of it. Happy Postcrossing, everyone :)
Åland islands belong to Finland, they have some autonomy. Take a ferryboat from Stockholm to Turku and during the day you can see the lovely archipelago all the way from Åland islands to Turku harbour :)
Thank you to Ana and Paulo and all the postcrossing team. Without your tireless work we couldn't enjoy this wonderful hobby.
Every year, I eagerly await the statistics. Many thanks to the wonderful Postcrossing team.
What an incredible community you have created. Thank you so much for what you have created and nurtured.
Onward and upward!
Thanks so much for the work you do. Keep it up! Happy New Year and peace.
Fantastic ...this is so look interesting! Thanks for all the wonder and fun!
Coming from "small" the Netherlands and still 4th on the ranking list, I am proud to be part of this wonderful community. Thank you to the whole Postcrossing team to make this possible. Keep on writing and connecting.
Thank you for all, and have a nice year.
197 postcards per capita from Åland Islands! It blows my mind!! These statistics are all amazing!
As a Dutch girl living in Canada, I'm proud of both countries.The Netherlands 4 and Canada 10. ...Hiep Hiep Hoera!...
I'm a sucker for statistics and love your extensive post about the numbers from 2025! And I love being part of it, too. Thanks for everything you do for us & the world of postcrossing!
Thanks for the statistics! As a novice in Postcrossing, I hope I will send and receive plenty of cards during the next 35 years or so! (Then I'll be about 94, and I can't expect to live much longer, I guess.)
The postal service in Norway still exists, but from 1st February, the prices increases substantially, although it gets cheaper for small, but heavy items … Also, the postal service recommends to cut down delivery from two/three days a week (alternating) to only one day a week – longer to wait for postcards. But I have just bought several postcards and lots of stamps for the years to come, so I'm prepared!
Interesting statistics. Thank you for collating and sharing these numbers.
I wonder when will the Philippines figure in any of these :)
I registered in July and sent 11 postcards. I have received zero postcards so far(
The numbers for Postcrossing in 2025 are incredible, and I've been proudly a part of this project for 17 years. Congratulations and thanks to all the Postcrossing team!
I would like to mention the increased delivery time of German Post in the USA, which has more than doubled. This can also be clearly seen in the changed 60-day ranking, which is now dominated by our friends in the USA (who, incidentally, do not send to Russia).
So interesting, thanks for crunching those numbers! ❤️
I'm so happy to be a part of it, I love sending postcards! What cannot be seen in the statistics is that far more people devote time and some creativity to postcards. They decorate more, write more, postcards are more from the heart. This year, I had an absolute minimum of postcards with the inscription "happy postcrossing" and nothing else.
It's getting so expensive. It's immoral how they put up prices well above inflation for stamps.
Thanks for the statistics, they’re really interesting. Unfortunately, the cost of postage limits how many postcards I can send. Even though postage in Portugal is cheaper than in other European countries, it’s still expensive compared to the average wage here.
I'm just amazed at what a wonderful community post Crossing is. This is perfectly shown in these statistics.
Wow. This is pretty impressive. I've only been a Postcrosser for over a year. I was surprised to see how many years this had been going on and I was just hearing about it!
Glad to be a part of it.
Wow, congratulations on producing these amazing statistics. What amazes me most is to find myself at #6 on sent postcards! With the huge cost of postage in the UK (the highest outside Scandinavia?) I didn't expect that!
Well done, Paulo and the brilliant team!
Thank you PostCrossing Team for all you do to help us have an enjoyable experience.
I really like the annual statistic blogs. Thank you, Postcrossing team!
Very interesting read. Nowadays I only send postcards when I am travelling as it is too costly from the UK (GBP 3.4, EUR 3.9, USD 4.5). This works for me!
Thanks again, everyone on the team, for another great year of sending and receiving these little joys! The stats are always interesting!
So interesting. From July few times I sent postcards from Russia to Germany and USA… not received no one 😭😭😭 it’s not fair… I know we have some troubles with post and other things, but postcards it’s a peace of happiness
Wish many many beautiful postcards in all mailboxes 🍀🍀🍀
I love seeing all these stats -- how fun!
Thank you for sharing these amazing numbers.
Bin froh, dass die Briefmarkenpreise nicht nochmal steigen, die ,30€ Anstieg waren schon schmerzhaft genug 🥲
This is so cool! I sent it to my mum, who still doesn't really understand why I love Postcrossing!
For quite some time now (about two years), fewer than half of the postcards I send actually arrive. As a result, I also receive fewer postcards myself. Because of that, it no longer makes sense for me to keep sending postcards. I’ll use up my remaining stock of stamps and postcards, and then I’ll stop. I’ve already ended my financial support for Postcrossing. It’s a shame — I really loved it.
Well done!! PostCrossing.
Great analysis of the data!! Russia usually took a bit of a longer time to arrive n China postal has improved rate of delivery very much.
All others arrived decently n let's continue PostCrossing each other.....Cheers to another good year n happy receiving n sending.
awesome - - thanks for the summary. I actually GOT one of the postcards from Aland Islands this year. I had to look it up on my map.....so fun to discover new parts of the world through Postcrossing. Thanks to add admins for keeping this running!
Talking about expensive postage, how does 3,05€ for international mail sound? It's craaazy expensive, right 😔
I've thought about leaving Postcrossing many times, not only because of the high cost of sending cards, but because of the irregularity in receiving. And because so many of my cards, mainly to China and the States expire.
I still stay on because of the creative outlet that Postcrossing has become and because of the nice connections you make.
Here's to a great 2026, postal wise 🤞
Super intéressant de voir tous ces classements et bravo aux Iles Aland pour cette performance !!!! Mais effectivement si le coût était moins élevé, on pourrait grimper les étages vers le podium.
En tout cas merci à Postcrossing pour tous ces échanges incroyables !
Very cool!
Postcrossing is an addiction I will never recover from and very happy about that fact.
Amazing Facts! This is a beautiful community. Thank you, Postcrossing staff for all of your service.
Incredible numbers! Big thanks to the Postcrossing team for all their hard work.
I am new to postcrossing and absolutely love sending and recieving postcards! (I sure am excited to check the mailbox every day.)
Amazing statistics and looking forward to being part of the community for years to come. :)
Thank you to the postcrossing management for this site!
Keep walking!!
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