Dutch postal operator PostNL is increasing stamp prices from January 1, 2012, including an 8.7%rise for domestic standard letters.
The price for a domestic letter will go up by 4 euro cents to €0.50. Letters to Europeandestinations will increase by 6 cents to €0.85, while overseas letters will remain at €0.95.Additionally, the price of a December stamp will rise to €0.36 and next year (2012) to €0.40, thusfollowing the trend of the standard stamp rate. The tariff for single item parcels will remainunchanged.
PostNL stressed that with the new rates it would continue to charge one of the lowest postagerates in Europe. According to the 2011 European letter price survey, the Netherlands ranks 20th outof 29 countries in terms of the price for a domestic standard letter, and is thus cheaper than allother countries in Northern and Western Europe (except for Spain).
The changes fall within the legal limits for price increases and have been reviewed by the Dutchsupervisory authority, it added.
An average Dutch household spends approximately €30 a year on letterbox mail and the announcedrate adjustment will result in an average increase in these expenses of around €2 per household peryear, the company pointed out.
In June 2010, PostNL simplified its postage by introducing stamps that use numbers instead ofvalue indicators (The Netherlands 1 and 2, Europe 1 and The World 1). These stamps eliminate theneed for using low-value stamps to top up the postage value. Stamps bearing the old value indicator€0.44 can still be used for domestic mail after the price increase, with the addition of two 3-centstamps.
