The Postal Service has reported its financial results for fiscal year 2021 (Oct. 1, 2020-Sept. 30, 2021). Here are some highlights:
• Revenue. Operating revenue was $77 billion, an increase of 5.3 percent from the previous fiscal year. Shipping and packages revenue increased 12.2 percent, while Marketing Mail revenue increased 4.9 percent. First-Class Mail revenue decreased 2.1 percent.
• Volume. Total volume was 128.9 billion pieces, down 0.2 percent from the previous fiscal year. First-Class Mail volume declined 3.7 percent, while shipping and packages volume grew 3.5 percent. Marketing Mail volume increased 3.4 percent but remains lower than pre-pandemic levels.
• Expenses. Operating expenses for the year were $81.8 billion, down 0.4 percent, compared with a year prior.
• Adjusted loss. The adjusted loss for the year was $6.9 billion, compared with an adjusted loss of $7.6 billion for the previous fiscal year. This excludes noncash workers’ compensation adjustments for the effects of actuarial revaluation and discount rate changes that are outside of management’s control. On a U.S. generally accepted accounting principles basis, the Postal Service had a net loss of $4.9 billion for fiscal year 2021, compared with a net loss of $9.2 billion for the previous fiscal year.
Service performance continued to improve during the year, with USPS reporting its strongest service performance for all mail categories since the previous year.
“We are aggressively implementing our Delivering for America transformation plan and making solid progress in service and operational performance, and in enterprise-wide automation investments that have dramatically expanded our capacity to process and deliver holiday package volume for the nation,” said Postmaster General Louis DeJoy.
“Despite the magnitude of our financial challenges, we are making encouraging progress in correcting the long-term imbalance in postal revenue and expenses, and we expect to see continued improvement as we fully implement the Delivering for America plan, which includes making meaningful progress toward meeting or exceeding 95 percent on-time service performance for all mail and shipping products, which we will achieve once all the elements of the plan are implemented.”
In addition to the aggressive steps that management is undertaking, which are already producing positive results, postal reform legislation is also an integral part of the Postal Service’s recovery plan that is critical to ensuring financial self-sufficiency.
The usps.com Financials page has additional information.
