September 29, 2023 Status of Special Mail Business Licenses

The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC) has summarized the status of special mail business licenses in fiscal 2022 according to the business performance reports and business reports of special mail business licensees. The summary of the status results is specified below.

[Summary of status results]

The Act on Letter Service by Private Business Operators (Act No. 99 of 2002) came into effect in 2003, allowing private business operators to enter the postal field (for correspondence delivery), which the government had monopolized until then. It has been 20 years since then. Entry into the special mail business licenses is steadily increasing, and the use of services is steadily expanding. The following is a summary of the current status of the special mail business in fiscal 2022.

• The number of special mail business licensees was 583 as of the end of fiscal 2022 (decreased by three from the end of the previous fiscal year).
• Approximately 20 million pieces of special mail were accepted in total in fiscal 2022 (decreased by approximately 600,000 pieces from the previous fiscal year (down 0.3%)).
• The total sales of special mail were approximately 18.1 billion yen in fiscal 2022 (decreased by approximately 200 million yen (down 1.1%) from the previous year).

[Outline of reporting system]

Under Article 41 of the Ordinance for Enforcement of the Act on Letter Service by Private Business Operators (MIC Ordinance No. 27 of 2003), each special mail business licensee is required to submit an annual business performance report on the number of pieces of special mail accepted and sales, along with a business report on the management style, capital, etc.

*The published materials are in Japanese only.