Postal services

Swiss Post serves the entire country (universal nationwide service). It is a byword for reliability, breaking European records again and again.

In recent years, the postal market has undergone fundamental changes. In addition to the government postal system, numerous private companies are now offering postal delivery services in certain areas in which competition is allowed. The package delivery market (for packages over 1 kg) has been liberalized since 2004. Letters weighing more than 100g can now be handled by private postal services, provided that they have the required licence. This change occurred in April 2006. Swiss Post has maintained its monopoly only over delivery of domestic letters and letters from abroad weighing 100g or less. On 1 July, 2009, the letter monopoly limit will be lowered to 50g. Further liberalization is planned.

With more than 2,500 post office branches, the post office network is very dense. In an international comparison with seven other European countries, Switzerland has the highest density of post office branches per area and the smallest average distance to the nearest post office branch. In addition, Swiss Post offers total logistics solutions ranging from procurement through warehousing to information logistics, including cross-border service.