Stamp prices to rise this month

The price of posting letters will be rising later this month. It will cost a third more to send a standard local letter, with stamps going up from 60p to 80p from Tuesday, 28 January.

Meanwhile, standard stamps for the UK, Isle of Man and other Channel Islands will rise by more than a third, from 98p to £1.35.

Sending a letter to Europe will increase by an average of 7%, from £2.25 to £2.30, while letters to the Rest of the World will increase from £2.95 to £3.

Jersey Post blame the rises on ‘above inflation cost increases from many suppliers’ and say that Islanders have been sending fewer letters in recent years. They say that ‘the increases will ensure letters cover their costs while helping to protect the Universal Service Obligation, giving customers access to one price to post anywhere in the Island or to the UK, five days a week’.

Local and UK stamp prices were last increased on 1 January 2023, with the prices held for two years. But the cost of posting European and international letters rose at the start of 2024 by 16%.

However, the cost of sending parcels will be reduced this year. Jersey Post say it will be an average of 18% cheaper to send a parcel to the UK, 2% less to send a local parcel, 1% cheaper to send a parcel to Europe, and 14% cheaper to send one to the Rest of the World.

Mark Siviter, Jersey Post Group CEO, said: “We remain committed to providing Islanders with accessible postal services. However, we’ve had to make some tough decisions to ensure we have a sustainable and viable service for the future. The way customers use our service is changing; in particular, people are sending fewer cards and letters. We’ve held our local and UK letter prices for two years, so the loss of volume and above inflation cost increases from many of our suppliers, has particularly affected the cost of UK and local letters. 

“We need to cover the costs of running our Post Office network, and think it’s right we pay our hard working posties the living wage. Where possible we’ve reduced our parcel pricing to support customers and local businesses and are introducing a range of volume-based discounts for businesses.” 

Despite the forthcoming price increase on stamps, Jersey Post say they don’t currently have any plans to re-introduce their reduced-price Christmas stamps this year. The scheme was stopped in 2023 and hasn’t been available for the last two festive seasons, something many Islanders contacted us to express their disappointment about.

Jersey Post told us this week: “This scheme was discontinued in 2023. There are no plans to reintroduce it currently. We will continue to review promotions and discounts regularly.”