Published on September 18, 2018

Regional network

The network of La Poste public outlets

With over 17,000 public outlets, La Poste has a dense regional network. Ninety departments meet the 90% accessibility requirement, and 96.7% of residents of metropolitan France can reach a La Poste public outlet within 5 km or 20 minutes by car.

  • Leading local network in France, with over 17,000 public outlets, including 9,254 wholly-owned post offices and 7,829 public outlets run as partnerships (local postal agencies and pick-up points).

  • 96.7% of the metropolitan French population is within a 5-km radius of a public post outlet or can reach one in under 20 minutes by car.

  • 56 pick-up points in urban areas were opened in 2015 in high-traffic zones, train stations, supermarkets, and Conciergerie Solidaire outlets.

  • 142,000 street letterboxes to send mail

  • 36 million personal letterboxes to receive mail

Plan for the 2017-2019 period

La Poste will continue to modernise its network and develop partnerships by pooling services. The objective is to keep reducing regional disparities in terms of local service offerings. The scope of the compensation fund has been reworked, and fund resources are now allocated to 10,000 priority public outlets as part of regional planning: shared post offices, partnerships with regional authorities and merchants, offices open fewer than 18 hours per week, urban public outlets that fall under the French urban policy programme, and public outlets in French overseas departments.

Paths to changing postal coverage

The agreement adjusts rules governing postal coverage and consultation. For these eligible public outlets, for all communities with only one post office and all new communities, the mayor must give approval following a mutual diagnostic process. Their change must be formalised within two to three months.

For all other public outlets, changes being considered on the basis of a consultation are handed over to the mayor for an opinion; the mayor may ask La Poste to present a second plan. A non-response after three months is considered to be agreement.

To learn more : Local postal coverage agreement (french version)