By Linn’s Staff
Great Britain’s Royal Mail will raise first-class and second-class domestic postage rates on April 2.
The cost for first-class postage will climb 10 pence, from £1.25 to £1.35. The second-class rate will also increase by 10p, from 75p to 85p.
In a March 1 press release announcing the new rates, Royal Mail said it “sought to keep price increases as low as possible.”
Royal Mail said its rates remain below the European mean average prices of £1.66 for the equivalent of first-class letter service and £1.26 for second-class, according to a calculation Royal Mail conducted across 29 countries in January.
Royal Mail also faces an increase in the number of addresses in spite of the decrease in letter volume.
“Letter volumes have fallen from 20 billion in 2004/5 to seven billion a year in 2022/3, while the number of addresses has risen by four million in the same period,” Royal Mail said. “The average adult spends less than £7 a year on stamped letters and people now receive on average just two letters per week.”
Royal Mail announced other price changes as well, including an increase of 30p on the international standard rate, from £2.20 to £2.50, and a 20p increase on the international economy rate, from £2 to £2.20.
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