Deutsche Post DHL today announced plans to raise some letter and parcel prices in Germany next yearin response to rising costs.
The price of a standard domestic letter up to 20 grams would rise by two cents to €0.60 fromJanuary 1, 2014, but the other main letter products would remain unchanged. International letterprices will also remain stable apart from the ‘maxi’ letter (1-2kgs), which would rise by 10 centsto €17.00.
This would be the second year in a row with a slight rise in the standard letter price. Thecompany raised the basic stamp price from €0.55 to €0.58 at the start of this year. However, thebasic rate had been kept unchanged for the previous 15 years.
In addition, the prices for domestic parcels and packets will rise by nine cents, apart frompackages up to 2kgs handed in at post offices, and international parcel rates will rise by between€0.99 and €1.99.
The company said the price changes reflected “rising costs in a difficult market environment”and stressed that it had already improved productivity in recent years and had thus avoided priceincreases in the past.
The new prices, which would take effect from January 1, have to be approved by the nationalpostal regulator, the Federal Network Agency (BNA).
Several other European postal operators, including La Poste, PostNL and bpost, have alsoannounced price increases for next year, generally citing rising costs and the decline in mailvolumes.
