The changes, from 2 April 2024, mean that a first class stamp will cost £1.35 and a second class stamp 85p.
Royal Mail say they have sought to keep price increases as low as possible in the face of increasing cost pressures and wage increases, declining letter volumes and lack of reform of the Universal Service Obligation (USO).
It adds that the new price of First and Second Class stamps remain well below European mean average prices of £1.66 for First Class and £1.26 for Second Class.
Nick Landon, Chief Commercial Officer at Royal Mail said: “We always consider price changes very carefully, but we face a situation where letter volumes have reduced dramatically over recent years, while costs have increased. It is no longer sustainable to maintain a network built for 20 billion letters when we are now only delivering seven billion.
“As a result of letter volume decline, our posties now have to walk more than three times as far to deliver the same number of letters as before, increasing the delivery costs per letter.
“It is vital that the Universal Service adapts to reflect changing customer preferences so that we can protect the one-price-goes anywhere service, now and in the future.”
Postal regulator Ofcom has recently opened a call for inputs to look at options for reform of the USO given the dramatic reduction in letter volumes in recent years.
(Lead image: Royal Mail)
