An Post delivers blow for consumers as increase in the price of stamps is confirmed

An Post has confirmed the price of a national stamp will increase by 20c from €1.65 to €1.85 from early next month.

The company says the increase will take effect from on Tuesday, February 3 for personal customers in line with global trends. It says the price will remain below and below the EU14 + Britain benchmark of €2.04 for domestic next day letter service.

"As European postal companies are stepping back letter services due to falling volumes and rising costs, An Post is taking action to safeguard national delivery services and equal access to letter services nationwide, for the same price," said a spokesperson.

Customers are also being advised that a new €3.50 stamp for letters to anywhere in Europe, including Britain is being introduced, an increase of 85c. A new Rest of World stamp, priced €3.95, is required to stem significant losses on this category of outgoing mail due to a 38% fall in international letters over the last three years.

According to An Post, more than 50% of outgoing international mail is destined for Britain, Germany and France so it has introduced this new Europe and Britain €3.50 rate rather than apply the higher Rest of World €3.95 to this category.

In the UK, the equivalent European stamp costs €3.90. Rates for large envelopes, packets, over-the-counter parcels and Registered Post will also rise, as will rates for the innovative national and international Digital stamps.

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Confirming the price increases, a spokesperson for An Post added: "The price changes are carefully calculated to 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 awards, increased operating costs and letter volumes which have declined by a further 7% in the last 12 months and more than 50% over the past decade. A similar rate of decline is forecast for 2026."

An Post is an entirely self-funded commercial business owned by the people of Ireland and providing a world class public service. The national Letter service runs on a fixed cost network which enables next-day delivery anywhere in the State for a uniform price.

The cost of the network is driven by the number of homes in the State (which is increasing) while revenue is determined by the volume of letters posted and price. As letter volume decreases and costs rise, prices must increase to ensure that services remain sustainable.

Garrett Bridgeman, Managing Director of An Post Mails & Parcels said: “An Post’s priority is to support the Irish economy and communities by providing world-class services for the people and businesses country wide. We work hard on the economics of the business by introducing smarter work practices and managing costs to achieve fair, cost-reflective prices below the European benchmark average, and below the UK, despite falling volumes due to e-substitution."

Mr Bridgeman added: “An Post 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.”

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Conscious of its older and vulnerable customers, An Post says its staff will continue to check in on customers, particularly those living alone in isolated rural areas, during spells of bad weather. The free delivery service for all letter and parcels up to 1kg posted to residents of Nursing and Care homes in the State will be continued. 

All existing stamps with ‘N’ (National) and ‘W’ (Worldwide) or specific euro denominations remain valid and fully useable after February 3, 2026.