By Georgia Wilkins
LETTERS have long been declared a dying art, and the latest Australia Post numbers were just further proof.
The government-owned business revealed mail volumes had declined by more than 15 per cent over the last four years - meaning there was now 800 million less letters in circulation compared with 2008.
The decline, which Australia Post believes is progressing at a rate of 4 to 5 per cent each year, has prompted the company to invest $2 billion in a ''future ready'' strategy to deal with the ongoing change.
Australia Post chief executive Ahmed Fahour said the impact of online bill paying, email and other forms of electronic communications was now being seen ''very, very starkly''.
''The impact of digitisation can be seen in its impact on our mail volume and also our parcel volume,'' Mr Fahour says.
''If you look at our mail business, volume over the last few years is down 17 per cent from the peak of 2008.''
But while mailboxes were drying up, Australia Post's profits were growing.
Despite a $146.5 million loss to its mail division, it emerged with a group profit of $281 million - about 14 per cent more than last year.
The profit was partly due to growth in its parcel division - from a boom in online spending - which offset the loss from mail.
Mr Fahour, a former top executive with National Australia Bank, said it meant the company was going at ''two-speeds''.
''This internet phenomenon is also driving a significant increase in our parcel business, with volume increase at 24 per cent over the last three years.''