In a major shake up Royal Mail has put up the price of stamps due to “structural decline in letter usage and rising inflation.”
Royal Mail have announced the price of a first class stamp is to rise up by 10p, a second class stamp by 2p. A first class stamp will rise to 95p on 4 April while the cost of a second class stamp will increases to 68p.
In a statement, the company said, “Royal Mail has considered these pricing changes very carefully in light of the long term structural decline in letter usage and rising inflation.
“Letter volumes have declined by more than 60 percent since their peak in 2004/5, and around 20 percent since the start of the pandemic.”
Royal Mail’s chief commercial officer, Nick Landon, said, “We understand that many companies and households are finding it hard in the current economic environment and we will always keep our prices as affordable as possible.
“Whilst the number of letters our postmen and women deliver has declined from around 20 billion a year to around seven billion since 2004/5, the number of addresses they have to deliver to has grown by around 3.5 million in the same period.
“We need to carefully balance our pricing against declining letter volumes and increasing costs of delivering to a growing number of addresses six days a week.”
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