THE price of a national stamp will increase 25c from €1.40 to €1.65 at the end of this month, An Post has announced.
The price hike comes into effect on Thursday, February 27 for personal customers and March 1 for business users in line with global trends and below the EU14 + UK benchmark of €1.88 for a next day letter service.
The price changes will cover the cost of providing a world class national letter service to every address taking account of wage increases for postal staff in line with national pay award, increased operating costs and letter volumes which have declined over eight per cent in the last 12 months, 40 per cent since 2017 and 50 per cent in the last decade.
Conscious of the impact on older customers, An Post staff will continue to check in on elderly customers, particularly those living alone in isolated rural areas and will work with Irish charity Alone to support communications services. An Post will also extend to the end of 2025 the free delivery service for all letter and parcels up to 1kg posted to residents of Nursing and Care homes in the State. The Carepack service, for example, has reached over 100,000 residents since 2020.
An Post says it remains committed to providing a top quality, sustainable postal service to the door for all customers. Increasingly, European countries have reduced letter delivery frequency to once or twice a week and now deliver to mail boxes outside the home or to central collection points. While An Post continues to design future generation mail services to suit customers’ needs, the company is committed to retaining the option of a next-day national service to the door, by trusted, trained postal staff in a growing fleet of emission free vehicles.
David McRedmond, CEO of An Post said: “An Post’s priority is to provide a world-class service for the people and businesses of Ireland. To do this we need to be aligned with global postal trends that see large price increases to compensate for falling volumes due to e-substitution. We’ve worked hard to get the economics right on price for postage by introducing smarter work practices and reducing costs to keep our prices below the European benchmark average, and below the UK.
“An Post remains entirely self-financed (having repaid a Government loan in full in 2024). While we manage the decline in postal, An Post is also investing heavily in the parcel and eCommerce business which is growing rapidly.”
SMEs can avail of a €1.55 national stamp rate through the An Post Advantage Card – a discount of six per cent. The International letter stamp price will increase from €2.20 to €2.65. Rates for large envelopes, packets and parcels to international destinations will also rise while the innovative national Digital stamp will increase from €2 to €2.22.
All existing stamps with ‘N’ (National) and ‘W’ (Worldwide) or specific euro denominations remain valid and fully useable after February 27, 2025.
PWC has assessed independently that the new pricing is consistent with the regulatory obligations and principles of cost-orientation, affordability and non-discrimination.
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