The traditional Christmas card maintains its popularity alongside electronic communications channels
The Christmas greeting card maintains its place in the Finnish Christmas tradition. Even though electronic communications channels offer options for sending Christmas greetings to friends and family, the traditional card is felt to be more personal and valuable.
This year, more than 47 million Christmas greetings were sent in Finland. The number has stabilized around 50 million after the mid 1990s. Nearly 50 million Christmas greetings were also sent last year. The majority of all cards are sent inside Finland. Some five million Christmas cards are mailed abroad, mostly to other Nordic countries, the United States, England and Germany.
"The number of enveloped Christmas cards has increased in mail handling. This indicates that Finnish people are investing in the Christmas spirit. The envelope often contains a different kind of greeting, such as a photo, a self-made or two-part card, or another differently shaped card that requires an envelope for protection," says Mari Jäntti, Itella's Product Manager.
Year after year, the most Christmas cards are sent to Santa Claus. This year, Posti has delivered more than 600,000 letters and cards to Santa Claus from about 200 countries around the world. The most letters to Santa Claus are sent from England, followed by Romania and Italy. Santa Claus himself sends some 40,000 responses as thanks for the letters he has received.
At an annual level, 70 million postcards are sent in Finland. In addition to Christmas, other busy seasons include Valentine's Day and Easter.
More information for the media:
Mari Jäntti, Product Manager, tel. +358 20 451 7523, firstname.lastname@posti.fi
