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UNITED NATIONS, July 20 (UPI) -- The U.N. Universal Postal Union says Saturday's release of the latest Harry Potter book will result in the largest-ever mail delivery worldwide.
Based on surveys conducted in its member states, the agency said Friday more than 2.4 million copies of the boy wizard's latest story will be distributed Saturday in Britain, Canada and the United States with additional copies to be delivered when released in Germany and Switzerland in October.
The book, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," is the seventh and last installment of the series.
A total of 1.8 million Harry Potter books will be delivered in the United States, 80,000 in Canada, and in Britain the Royal Mail will distribute 600,000 copies, with approximately one in 43 households receiving the book.
Although many Harry Potter fans chose to place orders on the Internet, most books will be shipped by post, showing the collaboration between online shopping and the more traditional postal sector, the UPU said in a statement.
The history of Harry Potter books has coincided with the development of e-commerce. The first Harry Potter book was released in 1997, when e-commerce had just sprouted. The postal sector, at the same time, has becoming increasingly prominent in the distribution chain since then. Globally, the number of ordinary packages sent surged 11 percent, representing a total of 6 billion parcels, or 16 million packages deliveries per day, said the UPU.
To fulfill all deliveries, postal operators have adopted innovative solutions. The German and Swiss postal services began distributing books shortly after midnight in 2003 and 2005, and plan to do the same this year.
In addition to setting a record in deliveries around the world, the fictional wizard has been immortalized on postage stamps in France, Australia and Britain.
The UPU, based in Berne, Switzerland, is the world's second-oldest international organization, created in 1874. The agency acts as the primary forum for cooperation between postal systems worldwide.
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