Philatelic Sales As % Of National Stamp Sales

Does anyone have any national data on this question. Please advise - and post on-line sources if you have them.

You pose an interesting question. Out of curiousity, how do you define Philatelic sales versus national stamp sales. I assume you are referring to the nation of Canada in particular?

I am not referring to any nation. All stamp issuing authorities distinguish between general stamp sales and philatelic sales. I need that data.

I go into the PO and purchase a sheet of the latest stamp issue, asking for is specifically. How are they to know whether I intend to save it or use the stamps for postage?

I can't speak for Canada, but in the US, the US Postal Service devises a "special formula" to identify philatelic v. retail sales. Obviously, no one can tell for sure exactly how many stamps are retained for collections v. used for postage, and we all know that some collectors might retain stamps for decades and then decide to use them (or sell them) for postage thereafter, so it's recognized as only a best guess scenario, but the formula is built into income/expense statements for the postal authority.

wt1 - thank you.

In the US, 100% of the "non-forever" stamp sales are philatelic.

OK, maybe 100% is a slight exaggeration. I'll go with 99.5% to be safe...