NAIROBI, Kenya — The rise of e-commerce has helped drive a dramatic surge in domestic parcels handled by the Postal Corporation of Kenya (PCK), with volumes jumping 549.2 per cent between April and June 2026.
PCK handled 667,978 domestic parcels during the quarter, up from 102,890 in January-March, according to the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA).
The regulator attributed the sharp increase to the lifting of an embargo on Express Mail Service (EMS) items and a last-mile delivery partnership that has expanded PCK’s reach to customers.
Posta Parcels Surge on EMS, E-Commerce Growth
The CA said the quarterly increase was mainly driven by a rise in EMS items after the embargo was lifted.
Growth in e-commerce deliveries also contributed, with postal items increasingly being moved from post offices directly to customers through last-mile delivery services.
PCK partnered with TAZ Technologies in May 2021 to facilitate the delivery of postal items, mail and parcels from post offices to customers’ doorsteps.
The partnership integrated PCK into TAZ Technologies’ Tap-A-Delivery platform, which uses logistics and taxi companies to provide last-mile delivery services.
Annual Parcel Volumes Still Below Previous Year
Despite the dramatic quarterly rebound, PCK’s performance across the full financial year remained below the previous year’s level.
The postal corporation handled 993,090 domestic parcels in 2025/26, representing a 33.2 per cent decline from the 1.49 million parcels recorded in 2024/25.
The latest quarterly figures therefore point to a sharp recovery towards the end of the financial year, rather than a return to the previous annual volume.
Domestic Letters Continue to Collapse
The decline in traditional postal services has been particularly pronounced in domestic letters.
Letter volumes fell by 70.2 per cent year-on-year, from 1.94 million in 2024/25 to just 577,694 in 2025/26.
The figures highlight the continuing shift away from conventional mail as consumers, businesses and government agencies increasingly rely on digital communication.
Private Couriers Remain Dominant
Private courier companies continued to handle far more domestic parcels than PCK during the April-June quarter.
Private operators processed 3.37 million domestic parcels, although this was an 8.5 per cent decline from 3.68 million in the previous quarter.
On an annual basis, however, private couriers recorded growth.
They handled 14.42 million domestic parcels in 2025/26, up 9.3 per cent from 13.19 million in 2024/25.
The figures underline the growing importance of courier services in Kenya’s delivery economy, even as quarterly volumes fluctuate.
Digital Transformation Reshapes Postal Sector
The CA said Kenya’s postal and courier industry is undergoing significant changes as digital transformation, e-commerce and changing consumer behaviour reshape demand for delivery services.
While traditional letter volumes continue to fall, the growth of online commerce is creating new demand for parcel delivery and last-mile logistics.
The surge recorded by PCK in the final quarter of the 2025/26 financial year illustrates the potential for postal operators to adapt their services to the changing market.
The latest figures are contained in the CA’s fourth-quarter sector statistics report for the 2025/26 financial year, covering the period from April 1 to June 30, 2026.
