First Class Mail Volume Down 49%

The internet has not been kind to the United States Postal Service. First-class mail is just a shadow of its former self. 

First-class mail volume peaked in 2001 at 104 billion pieces, according to the USPS. By 2020, volume had fallen to just 53 billion—a 49 percent decline. Most of the decline occurred in the five years following the introduction of the smartphone in 2007. 

First-class mail volume (in billions of pieces)

2020: 52.6

2015: 62.6

2012: 68.7

2011: 72.5

2010: 77.6

2009: 82.7

2008: 90.7 

2007: 96.3

2001: 103.7 (peak)

Source: United States Postal Service, First-Class Mail Volume Since 1926