Royal Mail increases first class stamps to 76p

The price of first class and second stamps is set to rise from the end of March 2020

Royal Mail has announced it will increase the price of first class and second class stamps. 

First class stamps will rise 6p to 76p, almost five times January's annual rate of inflation. 

Second class stamps will increase 4p to 65p, the maximum price that can be charged under Ofcom's price cap. 

These new prices will take effect from 23 March 2020. 

The increase comes less than a year after the Royal Mail increased the cost of first class class stamps by 3p to 70p and second class stamps by 3p to 61p. 

Over the last decade, the cost of a first class stamp has increased 35p while second class stamps risen 33p. 

The table below shows how much the cost of first class and second class stamps have risen since 2010. 

Why are stamp prices rising?

Currently Royal Mail is operating in what it describes as a "challenging business environment."

It has ambitions of investing £1.8 billion into the postal service but predicts that it will make a loss in 2020-21.

Royal Mail say that it has considered the upcoming price increases "carefully" to try and "minimise" any impact on customers. 

Stamp prices in the UK are among the best value in Europe compared to other postal operators, according to new findings from Royal Mail. 

The figures show that the European average for first class letters (0-100g) is £1.05. 

Stephen Agar, managing director of letters at Royal Mail says: “We are operating in a tough market at present, under the threat of making a loss by 2021.

These price increases will help us maintain the quality of service that is expected by our customers, while supporting the Universal Service.”