Post: Plus 20 percent: Postage can rise more than ever before

Postage is rising – again. It's not a done deal, but it's almost certain that an official document will show the way. For the first time, standard letter postage jumps to more than one euro.

Dusseldorf. Sending letters in Germany will most likely become more expensive than ever before. The Federal Network Agency published its plan in Bonn, according to which letter postage can increase by 20.35 percent by January 2027. It's about the "margin for price increases" - this is the value by which Deutsche Post should be allowed to increase the price of the total volume of all letters and postcards forecast for the years 2027 and 2028.

In 2022, the average price premium was 4.6 percent; In 2025, the previous high of 10.48 percent was reached, which has now almost doubled with the new project. The postal service has always made full use of the leeway granted for price increases and is likely to do so this time too. Packages should also become noticeably more expensive.

It is not yet clear which type of letter will cost how much. The postal service will decide this later itself. If it were to apply the increase margin equally to every type of letter, sending a standard letter domestically from January would cost 1.14 euros. The post office may also do this in 5 cent increments, so it will be 1.10 or 1.15 euros - and in another type of letter then a little more or a little less than the average value allows. Currently, a standard letter weighing up to 20 grams costs 95 cents.

Since 2012, the postage of a standard letter would have roughly doubled; back then it was 55 cents. In addition to the standard letter, there are also maxi letters, large letters, postcards and other types of letters.

Compared to neighboring European countries, sending letters is still relatively cheap. In Austria the postage for a standard letter is one euro and in the Netherlands it is 1.40 euros. In France it is 1.52 euros - there it is already clear that the postage for a standard letter will rise to 1.67 euros at the turn of the year.

Fewer and fewer letters are being sent

In the digital age, the volume of letters has been declining for a long time as companies and consumers rely more and more on emails and chat messages. While 16.9 billion letters were sent in Germany in 2005, in 2025 there were only just under 9.4 billion. The trend continues to decline. The costs for the post office, however, are increasing; it has to have a lot of mailboxes, branches and postmen.

In other EU countries the change is even more noticeable, the Netherlands Post reports a decline in the volume of letters by 70 percent within 20 years. In Germany, the structural change in the postal industry was initially comparatively moderate, but that is gradually changing - more and more mail from authorities and companies is being converted to digital channels.

“If the costs have to be spread over fewer letters due to increasing digitalization, among other things, the prices will rise,” says the President of the Federal Network Agency, Klaus Müller. According to his statement, the postal service wanted to have an even larger price surcharge approved: Müller pointed out that the regulatory authority had remained below the adjustments required by the postal service and had not taken into account various positions that the Bonn-based group had asserted.

New postage is valid for two years

Deutsche Post is not allowed to set the postage itself, but relies on the approval of the Federal Network Agency. This is done in a multi-stage “price cap measurement process”: The industry is consulted based on the draft of the scope for increases that has now been published, and after the logistics experts have spoken, the regulatory authority sets the standard. The post office then decides which type of letter will cost how much within this scope for increases. The Federal Network Agency will then check this and then release the postage for 2027.

In addition to letters, the planned price increases also include postage for parcels and business customer shipments, i.e. mail from companies and authorities. These are also expected to increase - for packages by 10.72 percent, which is also significantly higher than two years ago, when it was 7.21 percent. For business customer post, the Federal Network Agency is also proposing an increase of 20.35 percent - the same value as for private customers. The new postage applies for the years 2027 and 2028.

Deutsche Post and DHL are market leaders

Deutsche Post is by far the market leader in this country for letters and parcels. The smaller mail competitors include Citipost from Hanover, Pin Mail GmbH from Berlin and BWPost from Stuttgart. None of them operate nationwide; rather, they rely on their competitor Deutsche Post for nationwide delivery and pay money for it. Parcel competitors include Hermes, DPD, GLS and UPS.

All of these competitors of the Bonn-based DHL group, whose German core business is called Deutsche Post AG, are not bound to the Federal Network Agency's postage requirements because they are not a universal service provider. So you have not committed yourself to delivering shipments everywhere in Germany and operating a close-knit network of infrastructure.

Deutsche Post does around 85 percent of its mail business with corporate and government customers and 15 percent with private customers. The term private customers refers to letters that are posted in mailboxes or delivered to branches. This also includes shipments from tax advisors, lawyers, associations and other small companies that frank their letters themselves and deliver them to the mailbox or branch themselves.

The post office has a certain amount of time pressure when it comes to transporting and delivering letters. 95 percent of the shipments posted today must reach the recipient within three working days and 99 percent after four working days. This government regulation has been in effect since the beginning of 2025; before that, the time pressure was greater.