Cost of posting a European or international letter to rise by 16%

The cost of posting a letter to Europe or further afield will rise by 16% in the new year.

Jersey Post says that it is increasing its prices by an average of 8.6% from 8 January 2024 – however, despite this, the cost of posting a letter to Europe will rise from £1.85 to £2.15 (16%) while a letter to the rest of the world will jump from £2.55 to £.2.95 (15.7%).

There is a freeze on the price of a local and UK stamp for 100g letters, which remain at 60p and 98p respectively.

Explaining the decision, Jersey Post says it predicts that outbound mail volumes will fall by another 13% in 2024, while its operating costs remain high. However, since the announcement, many Islanders have taken to social media to complain about the large European and International increases, and postage costs in general – which some say will be a reason why they will be sending less mail.

Recently, many consumers contacted us to complain about the fact that Jersey Post didn’t offer reduced-price Christmas stamps this festive season for the first time in many years.

Meanwhile, many Islanders have been in touch in recent months to complain about the length of time that it can now take for a letter to get to or from the UK, since the scrapping of Jersey’s mail plane.

Jersey Post last increased it’s prices at the start of this year.

Commenting on the 2024 increases, Jersey Post blamed the 'geo-political' pressures that have increased the cost of fuel, and therefore freight transportation costs, and said that charges levied on them by Royal Mail and other postal authorities are set to increase 'significantly' in the new year.

Julie Thomas, Managing Director of Postal and Logistics, said: “Our annual price changes try to combat some of the challenges we face as a business in a declining market.

“Despite this, we are still committed to minimising the impact on our customers and, therefore, have taken the decision not to increase 100g letter formats locally and to the UK. In 2021, local mail pricing was held to support Islanders during the pandemic. In 2022, we only increased prices by 3.5% and last year by 7.9%. This year, there is an 8.6% increase, which is driven by our increased cost base but still below the current inflation rate of 10.1.”