PostNL announces 10 cents price increase on postage stamps; Highest rise since 2014

PostNL is raising the price of a postage stamp by 10 cents to 1.31 euros from July 1. This is the most significant price increase that the mail delivery service has implemented since 2014. The company claims that mail delivery is costing them more money than it is bringing in. Other prices are also going up: sending mail abroad will become more expensive, as will sending registered letters and parcels.

Postage stamps will cost 1.21 euros until July. PostNL already raised the prices in the last year, with a stamp costing 1.01 euros in 2023. “We understand that nobody likes to pay, but the new fees are unavoidable,” the director of the mail division of PostNL, Maurice Unck, said. “On average, a Dutch household sends around six letters a year. This amounts to 60 cents extra a year. This is one of the necessary steps to keep mail accessible and reliable for everyone in the future."

PostNL is said to have struggled with the fact that people in the Netherlands send fewer letters for a longer period. The company called on the government for support in February in order to maintain the loss-making postal delivery for the time being.

“All the changes to the network that we can do within the current rules have been set in motion. These are insufficient to absorb the cost increases,” Unck said.

Sending other types of mail will also become more expensive. The price of a postage stamp for letters to a foreign country will go from 1.90 euros to 2 euros from July.

The mail of registered letters will cost 50 cents more, rising to 10.80 euros. In addition, the price of sending a registered package will also be increased by 50 cents, to 10.85 euros.

The company is in talks with the Cabinet regarding changes to the Postwet, which is a law that states that PostNL must deliver all mail within a day. Other countries in Europe are often given two or more days to deliver the mail. PostNL is pushing for this law to be changed to give the company more time to deliver the mail.

“You see mailmen on almost every street in the Netherlands five days a week, every week. This is a legal obligation, but it is labor-intensive and expensive,” said Unck. “In addition, it no longer fits the changing customer needs, this goes for consumers and business users.”

The first quarter of this year saw a 7 percent drop in the number of mail that was sent on an annual basis. “We have adapted to the drop in mail delivery for years, but we are unable to do so anymore,” the director added. We are taking all the measures we can, and unfortunately, that includes a rate increase. But that is just a drop in the ocean." Unck did not rule out further price increases next year.

PostNL claims that most customers do not mind waiting longer than a day for their mail. A debate in the lower house of Dutch parliament, the Tweede Kamer, will take place regarding this subject before the summer break.

The Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) is also conducting research into the issues in the postage market. The results of this research are expected to be released during the spring.