Egypt Post tracking

What is Egypt Post?

Egypt Post, officially known as the National Postal Authority, in Arabic البريد المصرى, Al-Barid Al-Masry, is Egypt's state-owned postal service and one of the oldest continuously operating governmental institutions in the country. Operating under the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, Egypt Post functions as the sole universal postal service provider for Egypt, serving individuals, businesses, and government entities through a network of more than 4,200 post offices spread across every governorate. The authority provides over 160 distinct postal, financial, and governmental services, which positions it as a central piece of the country's public infrastructure rather than a simple mail carrier.

The roots of Egypt's organized postal tradition stretch back to approximately 2000 B.C., during the pharaonic era, when letters were sealed in containers and transported along the Nile by river under guard escort. The direct ancestor of the modern institution was Posta Europea, a private postal service founded in Alexandria in 1821 by Italian businessman Carlo Meratti to handle correspondence between Egypt and foreign countries. Khedive Ismail purchased this service from its operators on October 29, 1864, and on January 2, 1865, the enterprise was formally transferred to the Egyptian government and renamed Poste Egyptienne. That date is now commemorated annually as Egypt's National Postal Day. In January 1866, Egypt issued its first postage stamps, making it the first country in Africa and the Arab world to do so. Egypt joined the Universal Postal Union on July 1, 1875, becoming one of the founding-era members of that global body.

Egypt Post's position within Egyptian society extends well beyond mail delivery. In a country where approximately 73% of the population was classified as unbanked as of 2021, Egypt Post operates as the primary financial inclusion instrument for rural and low-income communities. Its post offices, many located in Upper Egypt and remote villages where commercial banks maintain no physical presence, provide savings accounts, debit cards, money transfers, and government welfare disbursements to populations that would otherwise be excluded from the formal financial system. The institution manages 25 million savings accounts, including 4.8 million held by women, making it the largest holder of individual savings accounts among all financial institutions in Egypt. At the 28th UPU Congress held in September 2025, Egypt Post was elected to both the Council of Administration and the Postal Operations Council, and was named Co-chair of the Supply Chain Committee.

• Official name: National Postal Authority (Egypt Post / Al-Barid Al-Masry)
• Founded: January 2, 1865, when Posta Europea was formally transferred to the Egyptian government and renamed Poste Egyptienne; National Postal Day celebrated annually on January 2
• Headquarters: 1 Abdel Khalek Tharwat Street Ataba Square, Cairo, Egypt
• Parent organization: Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT), Government of Egypt
• UPU membership: Member since July 1, 1875; elected to the Council of Administration and the Postal Operations Council at the 28th UPU Congress in 2025
• Network: More than 4,200 post offices across all Egyptian governorates, 100 mobile post offices, and 2,000 ATMs
• Financial services scale: 25 million savings accounts managed; over 20 million domestic money remittances processed annually
• Subsidiary: PDC (Parcel Delivery Company), an e-commerce focused affiliate with a claimed 96% nationwide delivery success rate
• Other memberships: Arab Postal Union, Euro-Mediterranean Postal Union, and the PRIME international parcel exchange initiative (member since 2018)
• Postal Museum: Located at Ataba Square, Central Cairo; reopened 2022 with 15 exhibition halls and more than 3,000 exhibits

Egypt Post's modernization since the early 2020s introduced a range of digital tools to its service portfolio. The Yalla super app, launched in February 2022, was described at the time of its release as the first super app in Egypt, the Middle East, and Africa. The Wassalah shipping app, also launched in 2022, allows customers to dispatch and track parcels digitally. A digital registered mail platform called Bareedi, developed in partnership with Bahrain's Beyon Connect, is described as the first digital certified mail service in Egypt. These digital tools reflect a deliberate institutional effort to reach younger, technology-oriented demographics while preserving the authority's traditional universal service role in rural and underserved communities.

Which countries does Egypt Post deliver to?

Egypt Post provides domestic coverage across every governorate of Egypt through its network of more than 4,200 fixed post offices. This density of outlets reflects the authority's mandate to provide universal postal service to all citizens regardless of location. Remote areas in Upper Egypt and rural villages, where private logistics companies and commercial banks typically operate with limited or no presence, are served through both fixed post offices and a fleet of 100 mobile post offices that travel directly to communities not reachable by standard branches. The network is further supported by 2,000 ATMs distributed across the country.

Internationally, Egypt Post delivers to all countries that are members of the Universal Postal Union, which encompasses more than 190 nations and territories worldwide. As a UPU member since 1875 and a current participant in its governing councils, Egypt Post exchanges mail and parcels with partner postal operators across every continent. The Express Mail Service is available for international dispatch from branches in Cairo, Alexandria, Sharm El Sheikh, and other major cities. Egypt Post also participates in the PRIME agreement, an international framework involving postal operators from more than 160 countries that governs the exchange of lightweight international parcels and is particularly relevant to cross-border e-commerce flows.

• Domestic coverage: All governorates of Egypt, including remote areas in Upper Egypt served by 100 mobile post offices traveling directly to villages
• International coverage: More than 190 countries and territories through the Universal Postal Union network
• Africa: All UPU-member countries on the continent; Egypt Post signed an agreement with the UPU International Bureau in May 2023 to establish a Regional Postal Training Center in Cairo serving African and Arab countries
• Arab world: All Arab states; Egypt Post is a member of the Arab Postal Union, which is headquartered in Cairo and was established on July 12, 1954
• Europe: All European Union member states and other European countries party to the Universal Postal Convention, including the United Kingdom, Switzerland Norway, and Russia
• Americas: United States, Canada, and all Latin American and Caribbean UPU-member countries
• Asia-Pacific: All UPU-member countries in the region, including major destinations in East Asia, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Oceania

International shipments from Egypt follow the standard transfer model used across the UPU network. A parcel dispatched from Egypt via Egypt Post is handled by the Egyptian operator through its domestic network and Offices of Exchange, then transferred at the border to the postal operator of the destination country for onward delivery. A parcel destined for the United States is handed to USPS for final distribution, a shipment to Germany is passed to Deutsche Post, and a parcel to the United Kingdom is handled by Royal Mail. This cooperative model applies across the entire UPU-member network, providing end-to-end coverage through a coordinated chain of national operators.

In January 2024, Egypt Post's Regional Postal Training Center in Cairo hosted a PRIME workshop attended by 78 trainees representing 16 nations, reflecting the authority's active engagement in building postal capacity across the African and Arab regions. Egypt Post's election as Co-chair of the UPU Supply Chain Committee at the 28th Congress in September 2025 reinforces Cairo's role as a point of institutional influence in international postal governance beyond its geographic coverage function.

What are the Egypt Post services and delivery times?

Egypt Post operates one of the most diversified service portfolios of any postal authority in Africa or the Arab world, spanning domestic and international mail delivery, express services, financial products, digital applications, and e-government payment processing. The core postal offering covers standard domestic letters, registered letters, and parcels, with registered items assigned a tracking number at the time of acceptance. For time-sensitive shipments, the Express Mail Service is Egypt Post's fastest tier, guaranteeing domestic delivery within 24 working hours of dispatch. For standard domestic parcels not sent via EMS, the typical delivery window is approximately 2 working days, though shipments to remote areas, particularly in Upper Egypt, may require 2 to 5 business days depending on the destination's accessibility and the frequency of postal rounds in that area.

• Standard domestic mail: Letters, registered letters, and parcels for delivery within Egypt; registered items carry a tracking number throughout the handling chain
• Domestic EMS: Guaranteed delivery within 24 working hours of dispatch; priority handling applies at every stage
• Standard domestic parcel: Typical delivery in approximately 2 working days; remote areas in Upper Egypt may require 2 to 5 business days
• International EMS: Expedited international shipping with full tracking; average delivery time approximately 5 working days depending on the destination country and customs clearance conditions
• International registered mail: Tracked international service available to all UPU-member countries; delivery times vary by destination and the postal infrastructure of the receiving country
• Cash on Delivery (COD): Available to e-commerce merchants, allowing businesses to ship products and collect payment at the moment of delivery rather than in advance
• PDC (Parcel Delivery Company): Egypt Post's affiliate subsidiary for e-commerce delivery; offers same-day and next-day options, cash on demand prepaid delivery, and cross-border e-commerce solutions with a claimed 96% national delivery success rate
• Financial services: 25 million savings accounts, domestic and international money remittances, Meeza prepaid cards, microfinance products, and disbursement of Egypt's Takaful and Karama social welfare programs on behalf of the state
• Digital services: Yalla super app (launched February 2022) integrating money transfers, bill payments, pharmacy orders, e-commerce, insurance, and transportation booking; Wassalah shipping app for parcel dispatch and tracking; Bareedi digital registered mail platform developed with Bahrain's Beyon Connect
• E-government services: Payment and transaction processing on behalf of more than 100 government entities

For international EMS shipments, the average delivery time of approximately 5 working days applies to well-connected destinations with efficient customs processing. Actual delivery times vary considerably depending on the destination. User-reported data from the Postcrossing philatelic community indicates that international mail items dispatched from Cairo have reached destinations such as Belarus in as few as 9 days, suggesting that Egypt Post's international routing performs better on certain corridors than the average figure alone would imply. Standard international registered mail follows longer and more variable schedules governed by transit agreements between Egypt and the receiving country.

Egypt Post began offering savings accounts in 1901, a service that grew over more than a century into one of its defining institutional features. By the 2020s, the authority was processing over 20 million domestic money remittances annually and serving as the disbursement channel for two of Egypt's major social welfare programs. The Bareedi digital registered mail service, developed in partnership with a Bahraini technology company, represents the application of postal infrastructure to the emerging market for legally admissible digital correspondence, a direction that distinguishes Egypt Post from most postal operators in its region.

What are the Egypt Post rates and maximum dimensions accepted?

Egypt Post describes its pricing philosophy as offering a price range that can be afforded by all Egyptian citizens, which reflects the authority's universal service mandate and its role in serving low-income and rural populations. Rates are structured based on item weight, destination, and the service tier selected from standard, registered, or EMS. Dimensional weight calculations apply to parcels where package dimensions exceed standard volume thresholds. Domestic tariffs are set by the Egyptian postal authority and are subject to revision by the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology. International pricing follows tariff structures established through UPU agreements and bilateral postal arrangements between Egypt and destination countries.

• Pricing basis: Weight of the item, destination country, and selected service tier (standard, registered, or EMS)
• International tariff structure: Governed by UPU agreements and bilateral postal arrangements; subject to periodic adjustment following UPU tariff reviews
• Dimensional weight: Applies to parcels where dimensions exceed standard volume thresholds
• Reference pricing: User-reported data from the Postcrossing community indicates international postcards dispatched from Cairo have cost in the range of 80 to 90 Egyptian Pounds in recent years
• Payment currency: All customs duties on imports into Egypt must be paid in Egyptian Pounds
• Maximum weight and dimensions: EMS parcels and international registered parcels follow UPU-standard maximums applicable across the global postal network for each respective service type

Specific current tariff schedules for Egypt Post's domestic and international services are not published through publicly accessible channels. Customers seeking precise pricing for a specific weight, destination, and service tier should contact Egypt Post directly through its customer service hotline or visit one of the more than 4,300 post offices nationwide for a rate calculation. High-volume e-commerce businesses may also engage through the PDC affiliate, which operates under separately negotiated commercial terms for B2C parcel delivery.

What are the Egypt Post delivery options?

Egypt Post delivers to home and business addresses across Egypt through its network of postal carriers. Customers can also collect items directly from any of the more than 4,200 fixed post offices operating across the country, with identification required at the counter for parcel collection. In areas not served by a fixed branch, the 100 mobile post offices extend delivery and collection reach to rural communities, traveling to villages and providing services directly on location. The Wassalah app allows customers to request courier pickup from their address and manage deliveries digitally, without needing to visit a post office for dispatch.

• Home and business delivery: Available nationwide through Egypt Post's network of postal carriers
• Post office collection: Recipients can collect items from any of the 4,200+ fixed post offices; identification must be presented at the counter
• Mobile post offices: 100 vehicle-based units traveling to rural villages and areas without a fixed branch, providing both postal and financial services directly to residents
• Wassalah app: Digital platform for requesting courier pickup, tracking shipments, and managing deliveries from a mobile device
• Cash on Delivery (through PDC): E-commerce recipients can pay at the moment of delivery rather than in advance, with payment collected by the carrier at the door

For missed deliveries, standard practice in Egypt typically involves the carrier leaving a notification and the recipient collecting the item from the nearest post office. Specific procedures for redelivery attempts, package redirection, time-slot selection, and signature requirements were not confirmed in publicly available sources and may vary depending on the service tier and the recipient's location. Customers receiving EMS or registered mail items can verify the status of their shipment through the Egypt Post website or the Wassalah app before traveling to the post office for collection.

What should I do if my Egypt Post parcel is lost or damaged?

Egypt Post handles claims for lost and damaged packages through its customer service infrastructure. For a missing package, customers should contact Egypt Post's customer service team directly and initiate a formal investigation into the item's whereabouts. If the item is officially declared missing at the conclusion of the investigation, the sender may claim compensation covering the declared insured value of the item and the cost of postage, subject to compliance with Egypt Post's insurance and claims policies. For a damaged parcel, the damage should be reported promptly, with the tracking number and photographic documentation of the damage provided to assist in resolving the case.

• Domestic hotline: 16789
• International phone: +20 2 3531 5900
• Toll-free (within Egypt): 0800 800 2800
• Support hours: Saturday through Thursday, 8:00 AM to 10:00 PM; Friday and official holidays, 10:00 AM to 7:00 PM
• Online support: Egypt Post's official website includes a complaints portal and live chat available during business hours
• In-person: Any of Egypt's 4,300+ post offices can assist with complaints and claims initiation

Claims for international items involve cooperation between the originating and destination postal operators, so resolution timelines for international shipments may be longer than for domestic cases. Specific deadlines for filing claims, required documentation beyond photographs and tracking numbers, and maximum compensation limits were not confirmed in publicly accessible sources. Customers sending high-value international shipments are advised to use insured parcel post services, which provide a defined basis for compensation in the event of loss or damage during transit.

Does Egypt Post handle international shipments and customs formalities?

Egypt Post processes international shipments to all UPU-member countries as a full participant in the Universal Postal Convention. Both outbound and inbound international mail are processed through designated Offices of Exchange in Egypt, where items are handed off to or received from partner postal operators. The Express Mail Service is the primary international service tier, providing expedited delivery with full tracking. International registered mail offers a more economical tracked option for non-urgent items. Egypt Post's affiliate PDC provides additional cross-border e-commerce solutions for businesses requiring more specialized international delivery management beyond what standard postal channels offer.

For inbound shipments arriving in Egypt, the Egyptian Customs Authority imposes an Advanced Cargo Information requirement. The Egyptian importer must submit the required shipping documents, including a commercial invoice and the final or initial bill of lading, through an official e-portal at least 48 hours before the cargo departs its country of origin. Upon submission, a unique ACID, or Advanced Cargo Information Document, number is issued. Any shipment arriving in Egypt without a valid ACID number will be denied entry and must be re-exported at the shipper's expense. Inspection is conducted by the General Organization for Export and Import Controls, and security or military agencies may request additional examination in specific cases.

Customs duties on imports into Egypt are assessed as a percentage of the customs-cleared value. The applicable rate is 2% of the customs-cleared value when the standard duty rate for the goods falls between 5% and 30%, and rises to 3% when the applicable customs duty exceeds 30%. All customs duties must be paid in Egyptian Pounds. Egypt Post participates in the PRIME agreement, which governs lightweight international parcel exchange among more than 160 postal operators worldwide, a framework that is particularly relevant to cross-border e-commerce flows involving Egyptian senders and recipients.

• ACI requirement: Import documents must be submitted at least 48 hours before departure from the origin country; a valid ACID number is required for entry into Egypt; shipments without this number are denied entry and re-exported at the shipper's cost
• Import duty rate (standard goods): 2% of customs-cleared value when the applicable duty rate falls between 5% and 30%
• Import duty rate (high-tariff goods): 3% of customs-cleared value when the applicable customs duty exceeds 30%
• Inspection authority: General Organization for Export and Import Controls (GOEIC); additional examination may be requested by security or military agencies
• Prohibited items: Drugs and narcotics, firearms and ammunition, explosive materials, drones, birds of any kind, any medication containing methadone, coins and banknotes, securities payable to bearer, travelers' checks, and valuables including platinum, gold, silver, and precious stones (unless sent via insured parcel post); cotton is listed as a restricted item
• PRIME participation: Egypt Post is a member of the PRIME agreement since 2018, governing lightweight international parcel exchange among 160+ postal operators worldwide

Understanding tracking statuses

When you track an Egypt Post parcel online, different statuses appear as the item moves through the postal chain. Egypt Post uses a 13-character alphanumeric tracking number that follows the UPU S10 standard, consisting of two letters at the start indicating the service type, nine digits identifying the specific item, and the two-letter country code EG at the end. Examples include formats beginning with EE, RR, or CP, resulting in codes such as EE123456789EG or RR123456789EG. EMS items produce the most complete event trail, while standard registered mail tracking may show fewer intermediate events depending on the scanning practices of the destination country's postal operator. Tracking is available through the Egypt Post website, the Wassalah mobile app, and a range of third-party tracking aggregators.