Sydney, Feb. 12 : Australia's post men will deliver a billion fewer letters in 2013 than they did five years ago, but they're handling a lot more parcels as people do more shopping online, a parliamentary hearing has been told.

Australia Post chief executive Ahmed Fahour said that 180 million fewer letters would be sent in this financial year, which is a drop of a billion since 2008.

According to the Herald Sun, Fahour said Australia Post had lost 190 million dollars in its traditional mail business.

He told a senate estimates hearing in Canberra that the loss has been growing and will continue to grow as customers shift from physical mail to digital communication.

Fahour said his organization had double digit growth in delivering parcels within Australia during the festive period, which reflected the ongoing and rapid rise of online shopping throughout Australia.

He said Australia Post had delivered 97 percent of parcels through that peak holiday period, adding that it is one of the better performance records over the years, the report added. (ANI)