Stamp prices are set to rise again in April, Royal Mail has announced, marking the sixth price hike in three years. The cost of a first-class stamp will climb to £1.70, a 5p increase, while second-class stamps will be 87p, a 2p rise, when the changes come into effect on April 7.
Royal Mail, which was fined £10.5 million by regulators for failing to meet its delivery targets last year, said the spiralling prices are because of the “increasing cost of delivering mail”. The hike means first-class stamps will have more than doubled in price in the last five years, having cost 76p in 2020. In that time since 2019-2020, Royal Mail hasn’t met its annual target for delivering first-class post on time once. Tom MacInnes, director of policy at Citizens Advice, said the price increase is “yet another blow” as “millions of people face post delays every year” while prices continue to climb.
MacInnes added: “Royal Mail hasn’t met an annual delivery target for five years, but consumers will pay 124% more for a first-class stamp, and 34% more for a second-class stamp, than they did in 2020.”
Chief commercial officer Nick Landon said the cost of delivery “continues to rise” because as the volume of letters has decreased, the number of addresses has increased. Royal Mail confirmed letter volumes fell from 20 billion in 2005 to 6.7 billion in 2024.
He added that the universal service obligation, which requires Royal Mail to deliver letters six days a week and parcels five days a week, needs “urgent reform”, as he believes it does not meet modern customers’ needs.
The universal service is currently under review, and regulator Ofcom is consulting on plans to remove second-class deliveries on Saturdays, reducing them to two or three days per week.
Amanda Fergusson, chief executive of the Greeting Card Association, called on MPs to act: “Here we go again.
“Yet again Royal Mail is asking people to keep paying more, for less, demonstrating the urgency behind our call for MPs to investigate Ofcom and Royal Mail’s plan to weaken the service.
“Our members – and their customers – know imminent plans to slash second-class services will leave them reliant on a first-class stamp at runaway prices.
“It’s time for MPs to act – they must make sure Royal Mail isn’t given carte blanche to make the postal service less reliable and unaffordable.”
It comes as Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky closes in on his deal to buy the company from current owner International Distribution Services.
Agreed in 2024, it has now been delayed until the second quarter amid a political crisis in Romania, according to a statement earlier this week.
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