PostNL ends next-day standard letter delivery; Priority mail now costs 3.95 euros

Starting Saturday, July 12, PostNL no longer offers next-day delivery for standard letters in the Netherlands. The average delivery time is now two days. The company stated that the change is part of ongoing adjustments to address rising costs amid declining mail volumes.

The change ends the long-standing next-day standard while keeping the price of a regular stamp at 1.40 euros. The company also plans to push for a three-day delivery standard next year, saying that would make its mail business profitable again.

The new rules do not apply to mailbox parcels, which remain part of the parcel network. Those would be generally delivered the next day, except on Sundays and Mondays.

Customers who still want next-day delivery can use PostNL's priority mail service for 3.95 euros per letter, more than double the standard rate. Priority letters must be dropped off at one of the company's parcel points, where parcel drivers already make near-daily rounds.

PostNL said it had sought the change because letter volumes continue to decline while delivery costs remain high. PostNL said the volume of mail has fallen by 70 percent over the past 20 years and continues to decline.

The company reported a loss of 35 million euros in 2025 from carrying out the UPD. It says that the current legal requirements no longer match the reality of the postal market and place a disproportionate financial burden on the company.

"Where Dutch people used to receive about three pieces of mail per day, today that is only three pieces per week," according to Maurice Unck, the CEO of PostNL.

The next planned change is a three-day delivery standard for standard UPD mail. PostNL said this would require removing Saturday as a legally required delivery day. That is because fewer letters are delivered on Saturdays than on other days.

The company also called for additional measures, including reducing the number of mailboxes. Last year, PostNL removed around 800 mailboxes across the country.