Letters and parcels: Postage is increasing: standard letters and postcards cost 95 cents

Anyone who sends a standard letter in Germany will have to pay 95 cents from January, which is 10 cents more than before. Deutsche Post requested this. The approval of the Federal Network Agency is still pending, but that is likely to be a formality.

Other types of mail are also becoming more expensive, for example the compact letter weighing up to 50 grams will cost 1.10 euros (previously 1.00 euros) and the large letter weighing a maximum of 500 grams will cost 1.80 euros (previously 1.60 euros).

The postage for a postcard should be 95 cents, as with the standard letter weighing up to 20 grams. At 70 cents, this was previously significantly cheaper than a letter in an envelope. For example, if a foreign tourist in Germany sends a postcard to his home country, he will in future have to pay 1.25 euros, just like for a letter abroad, which is 30 cents more than before. Postcards have become somewhat out of fashion as many people prefer to send digital holiday greetings via chat programs.

For decades a postcard was cheaper than a letter. Why is this price advantage no longer available to consumers? The costs for transporting, sorting and delivering these products are the same, says a postal spokesman. In addition, the uniform price serves to simplify the product range. In many other European countries there is also no price difference between letters and postcards, according to the spokesman for Deutsche Post, which belongs to the logistics group DHL.

Digitalization is changing the mail market

The volume of letters and postcards has been shrinking for years. People are relying more on digital media in their everyday communication; letters only play a secondary role at best. A Forsa survey commissioned by the Swiss Post recently showed that nine percent of respondents had not sent a single letter as private individuals in the past twelve months. The group of frequent users – i.e. more than 50 letters per year – is only three percent.

Of those who still send letters, 62 percent said that this was about private communication, such as birthday greetings or Christmas wishes. The rest no longer use letters for private correspondence, but rather for more formal matters, such as documents for authorities, letters to insurance companies or termination of the fitness studio contract. The survey makes it clear: the letter is on the decline in people’s everyday lives.

Postal costs increased

This development is a problem for Deutsche Post. Unit numbers are falling, while costs are becoming more expensive due to higher energy prices and rising wages. The company must comply with government regulations and its mailboxes and branches – mostly retailers with a post office counter – must not be too far away from households.

Such infrastructure costs money. If there are only half as many letters in a mailbox as before, the company has received less money in the till and the so-called unit costs – i.e. the costs per letter necessary for the transport of mail – are significantly higher than before.

Although the logistics company is working more efficiently than before, that is far from enough to compensate for the increase in costs, especially since investments are still being made in climate protection measures – such as electric vehicles. Because of the higher costs, the Federal Network Agency is giving the postal service a leeway of 10.5 percent to increase prices – this is the amount by which sending letters in Germany may become more expensive overall in January. The post office had demanded even more, but this demand was rejected.

Postage in other EU countries is higher

“It is clear to us that consumers generally view price increases critically – whether at the bakery, the supermarket, the gas station or the post office,” says the responsible DHL board member Nikola Hagleitner.

That is understandable. But the costs are high. “We employ 187,000 people, modernize our network, decarbonize and pay good standard wages. That costs a lot of money. The increase in postage is still too low and a letter costs very little compared to Europe.”

According to the postal service, a letter product similar to the standard German letter costs an average of 1.46 euros in other EU countries. Hagleitner assures that her company will continue to provide a nationwide branch and ATM network and guarantee reliable delivery.

Old postage stamps will remain valid in the coming years, but they must be additionally franked. The postage applies for two years, i.e. for 2025 and 2026. When the postage was last increased at the beginning of 2022, the price for sending a standard letter rose from 80 to 85 cents.

The FDP member of the Bundestag Reinhard Houben sees it as positive that the standard letter will continue to cost less than one euro in the future. With a view to the consequences of the recently passed reform of the postal law, according to which the sending of letters will slow down in the future, the liberal says: “An even higher increase would have been inappropriate, after all the service will be weakened and we will have to wait longer for letters.”