From next year, a standard letter could cost just under one euro. DHL packages could also become more expensive. The Federal Network Agency has now given the green light to an increase.
Letter postage in Germany is expected to increase in the coming year. The Federal Network Agency wants to allow the post office to increase the price of letters by around 10.5 percent. Most recently, sending letters became more expensive by 4.6 percent in 2022.
It is not yet clear how high the postage will be for each type of letter. The post office will decide this in the next step. The reason for the postage increase is increased postal delivery costs. As a so-called universal service provider, it is obliged to deliver shipments everywhere in Germany – including on lonely farms, where the delivery person needs a lot of travel time.
Standard letter could cost 95 cents
The standard letter weighing up to 20 grams currently costs 85 cents domestically, the compact letter weighing up to 50 grams costs 1.00 euros and the postcard costs 70 cents. According to industry experts, the standard letter could cost 95 cents in the future.
According to the Federal Government's wishes, the postage of a standard letter should not exceed 1.00 euros. In the sum of all forecast shipments, inflation may amount to a maximum of 10.5 percent. The network agency is expected to approve the ports at the end of the year. The new prices will then apply for two years.
Packages are also likely to become more expensive
The packages from the market leader DHL Group, which operates as Deutsche Post in the domestic mail business, are also likely to become more expensive for private customers. In this area, the Federal Network Agency wants to give the logistician a price increase of around 7.2 percent.
It is still unclear when the post office will make these private parcel shipments more expensive. In contrast to the mail market, the Bonn group has some larger competitors here.
Fewer and fewer letters, but more parcels
Given the rise of emails and chats, the volume of letters has been falling for a long time. According to its own information, the postal service transported around 5.9 billion letters last year, a third fewer than ten years earlier. This does not include advertising mail.
On the other hand, demand for packages increased, especially because people are ordering more and more online. In 2023, DHL delivered around 1.7 billion parcels in Germany, around two thirds more than in 2013.
