Royal Mail stamps are rising in price today - with the cost of a first class stamp going over the £1 threshold for the first-time ever.
The price of a first class stamp has gone up by 15p, from 95p to £1.10, while a second class stamp is now 7p more expensive, up from 68p to 75p.
The 16% increase for a first class stamp is way above the current level of inflation of 10.4% - and comes on top of a 10% increase from last year.
Citizens Advice said the price hike represents a 64% increase over the last five years.
Royal Mail has said the decision was made after "careful consideration" and following a 25% drop in letter volumes since the Covid-19 pandemic.
Nick Landon, chief commercial officer at Royal Mail said: “We have to carefully balance our pricing against a continued decline in letter volumes and the increasing costs of delivering letters six days a week to an ever-growing number of addresses across the country.
“We are seeing a fundamental change in consumer needs with a greater shift in demand from letters to parcels. It is vital that the Universal Service adapts and stays both relevant and sustainable.
"We need to make these price changes to ensure we can continue to maintain and invest in the one-price-goes-anywhere Universal Service for years to come.”
Sending mail by first class stamp should mean your letter reaches its intended address the next day. With a second class stamp, it usually takes around two to three working days to arrive.
Royal Mail is required to deliver letters across the country six days a week as part of its "universal service obligation".
However, last month saw the postal service referred to industry regulator Ofcom after MPs accused the firm of failing to deliver Monday to Saturday.
The group from the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee also said Royal Mail has been prioritising parcel deliveries over letters.
At the same time, 18 days of strike action by more than 115,000 postal workers over the last year has left the service reeling.
A fresh wave of industrial action is said to be likely this month unless an agreement is made on pay, conditions and job security.
The Royal Mail board is reported as threatening to put the firm into administration if a deal is not done, with the firm having already warned it is losing £1million a day.
A Royal Mail spokesman has told news outlets the company is "doing all we can" to resolve the dispute, and is "committed to getting the right deal".
