Millions of Swedes stick to old-school cards

Swedes have sent 28 million Christmas cards this year, according to the national postal service.

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Social media, text messages, and emails may be a natural part of people's communication habits these days, but when it comes to sending Christmas greetings, many Swedes still seem to prefer "to go analogue".

While 28 million cards is a large number for a country with a population of 9.5 million, it is a far cry from the 1990s.

Back then, the amount of Christmas-time post in Sweden was the twice the size compared to today.

Yet, still, this year seven out of 10 households sent paper Christmas cards by post, a figure which pleases the Sweden's national postal service (Posten).

"It is heartening that the tradition of sending Christmas cards is so deeply rooted," said Andreas Falkenmark, CEO of the national postal service.

"The handwritten greeting is still much more personal than an SMS or a Facebook update," he added.

In the 1980s there was an upswing in Christmas cards sales in Sweden.

According to postal service spokesman Per Ljungberg, one explanation could be the emergence of new family forms and the breakup of the nuclear family, meaning more households sending more Christmas cards.

"In the past one tended to gather in big groups during Christmas," said Ljungberg.

"It was common for families to leave near each other and people did not move around so much. But then families became smaller and smaller."

Mail carriers are doing extra rounds this weekend to ensure that all the Christmas cards, as well as Christmas presents ordered online, reach their recipients on time.

TT/The Local/nr
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