Letters to Santa Australia: How Many Letters Does Santa Get?

How many letters do Australian kids write to Santa? The last totals Australia Post reported were more than 118,000 letters for 2021,¹ more than 100,000 for 2020² and more than 150,000 expected in 2018.³ Since then the figure has not been published, so it is an honest gap rather than a number we can invent.

Worldwide, the Universal Postal Union estimated around 8 million letters to Santa a year in 2013.⁴ Australia's own program is called Santa Mail, and in 2026 it runs from 11 November to 20 December.⁵

Below you'll find the Australian numbers we could verify, how they compare with Canada, France, Germany and Finland, what kids wish for, and the 2026 dates for your family.

Letters to Santa Australia: what the numbers say

Australia Post is the main place Australian children send their letters. These are all the totals that have been reported:

Sources: Yahoo News Australia³, IPC² and Public Sector News¹. The 2018 figure was a forecast made in December of that year, not a final count. All three are old, so read them as the size of the program, not as this year's volume.

1. Roughly 100,000 to 150,000 letters in recent counted years

Across 2018 to 2021, Australia Post's reported numbers stayed in the low six figures. That is a useful range, but we found no total for 2022 to 2025, and the 2025 coverage of the program gives no letter count at all.⁷⁸

2. Every child gets a reply, in a different style over the years

In 2018, each child who posted a letter received a personally addressed postcard from Santa, and letters were read and hand-sorted at central locations.³ Today the reply is handed over at the counter instead.⁵

3. Santa's postcards have an Australian twist

The 2018 postcard had Santa say he sometimes goes for a swim at the Great Barrier Reef.³ It's a nod to Christmas in summer.

4. Large print and braille replies

Australia Post works with Vision Australia so children who are blind or have low vision can get a large-text or braille reply posted to their home. Families must email their name and address to Australia Post to request it.⁵

How Santa Mail works in 2026

From 11 November to 20 December 2026, children can hand a letter to a team member at a participating Post Office and get a reply on the spot.⁵ Australia Post says replies come with a Christmas friend for the tree, one of three characters, and there is a 1 in 10 chance of a rare Pip.⁵ The page adds that stocks are limited.

That is a change from the older model. Until at least 2022, children posted letters to Santa, North Pole 9999, with a Christmas-card-only stamp and a return address on the back.¹ In 2025 Australia Post said no stamp or return address is needed.⁸ Our guide to the Santa Claus address lists addresses for other countries.

In 2026, the Melbourne pop-up at Southern Cross Lane (121 Exhibition Street) is open on 9 and 10 December, 10am to 3pm.⁵

How Australia compares with other countries

There's no official global count. The UPU's 2013 survey of national post services estimated about 8 million letters a year, up from about 6 million in 2007. Australia was not named in that release.⁴ Here's how the big Santa countries compare:

Sources: Canada Post⁹, La Poste via Brut¹⁰, USPS¹¹, the UPU⁴, Deutsche Post via epd¹² and Australia Post as reported above. The UK and Finland figures are from 2013 and may be out of date.

5. Canada: over a million letters, in the language of the writer

Canada Post's elves answer more than a million letters a year from around the world, in the language the letter was written in. Santa's address there uses the postal code H0H 0H0, and the 2026 deadline is 9 December.⁹

6. France: from 5,000 letters in 1962 to over a million

La Poste's Santa service started in 1962 with 5,000 children's letters and now receives more than a million a year, with about 60 elves answering.¹⁰

7. Germany: 564,500 letters answered in 2025

Germany's seven Christmas post offices answered about 564,500 letters from children in 2025. About 14,000 came from abroad, from 63 countries.¹²

Each country counts differently (letters received, answered or expected), so we do not rank them.

What do Australian kids ask Santa for?

We could not find a published analysis of Australian letters to Santa or a current survey with percentages of what Australian kids want. The best open dataset is from Santa Claus' Main Post Office in Finland, which analysed more than 6,000 letters from 45 countries in 2024:⁶

Toys win by far. The analysts also noticed newer wishes for comforting toys and stress relief, and many children asked for more time with family.⁶ The Finnish data isn't Australian, so treat it as a global proxy, not a portrait of local kids.

A summer Christmas and letters to Santa

Santa Mail stays open until 20 December, just days before Christmas.⁵ The Australian twist is visible in Santa's replies, such as the Great Barrier Reef swim.³ We found no data on whether summer changes what children ask for, so we're not claiming it does.

On Christmas Eve, follow Santa on our Santa tracker. And if your child is starting to doubt, read Is Santa real?

Letters to Santa in Australia: frequently asked questions

How many letters to Santa does Australia Post get?

Australia Post has not published a recent total. Its last reported figures were more than 118,000 letters in 2021, more than 100,000 in 2020, and more than 150,000 expected in 2018.

Does Australia Post reply to letters to Santa?

Yes. Through its Santa Mail program, children hand a letter to staff at a local Post Office and get a reply from Santa on the spot. In 2026 the program runs from 11 November to 20 December.

Do I need a stamp or Santa's address in Australia?

Not for the in-store program. In 2025 Australia Post said no stamp or return address is needed, you just hand over the letter. Older posted letters were addressed to Santa, North Pole 9999.

How many letters does Santa get in total?

About 8 million a year worldwide, according to a 2013 Universal Postal Union survey. Australia was not named in that release, and no newer global count exists.

How does Australia compare with other countries?

Australia's Santa Mail volume of roughly 100,000 to 150,000 letters is smaller than Canada, France or the US (each over a million), but the population is far smaller too. The numbers come from different years, so treat the comparison as a rough guide.

What do Australian kids ask Santa for?

No Australian letter analysis has been published. The best available data is from Finland's Santa Claus Main Post Office, where 67.2 percent of wishes in 6,000 letters from 45 countries were toys.

Sources

1. 1Public Sector News: Santa Mail 2022 (24 Nov. 2022) (psnews.com.au)
2. 2IPC: Australia Post set to deliver Christmas cheer with Santa Mail (2021) (ipc.be)
3. 3Yahoo News Australia: How Santa replies to thousands of Christmas letters from Aussie children (Dec. 2018) (au.news.yahoo.com)
4. 4Universal Postal Union: Santa to receive eight million letters this year (2013) (upu.int)
5. 5Australia Post: Santa Mail (2026 dates) (auspost.com.au)
6. 6Pirkkalainen: Santa Claus' Main Post Office analysed 6,000 letters (2024) (pirkkalainen.fi)
7. 7Inner East Review: Santa letters return, Australia Post's beloved program back (Nov. 2025) (innereastreview.com.au)
8. 8Australia Post: Santa Mail is comin' to town (Nov. 2025) (auspost.com.au)
9. 9Canada Post: Write a letter to Santa (canadapost-postescanada.ca)
10. 10Brut: La Poste and the letters to Pere Noel (brut.media)
11. 11USPS: Operation Santa / Letters to Santa FAQ (2011) (about.usps.com)
12. 12Sonntagsblatt/epd: German Christmas post offices answer over 560,000 letters (2025) (sonntagsblatt.de)