Royal Mail stamps are rising today with people expected to pay more to send letters.
The increased price of a first class stamp, by 10p to 95p, has come into effect today.
Second class stamps have increased by 2p to 68p.
The Royal Mail said there has been a long-term decline in letter usage, coupled with rising inflation.
Letter volumes have fallen by more than 60 per cent since their peak in 2004/5 and by around 20 per cent since the start of the pandemic.
Stamp prices have more than doubled since 2010, when they cost 41p and 32p.
It comes as the postal giant announced that millions of its so-called “definitive” stamps featuring the portrait of the Queen will become worthless after January 2023.
They will be replaced by new stamps featuring barcodes which letter senders will be able to scan on their phone.
Nick Landon, chief commercial officer at Royal Mail said: “We understand that many companies and households are finding it hard in the current economic environment, and we will always keep our prices as affordable as possible.
“Whilst the number of letters our postmen and women deliver has declined from around 20 billion a year to around seven billion since 2004/5, the number of addresses they have to deliver to has grown by around 3.5 million in the same period.
“We need to carefully balance our pricing against declining letter volumes and increasing costs of delivering to a growing number of addresses six days a week.
“As customer needs change and we see a greater shift from letters to parcels, it is vital that the universal service adapts to stay relevant and sustainable.
“These price changes are necessary to ensure we can continue to maintain and invest in the one-price-goes-anywhere universal service for future generations.”
It comes as Royal Mail has opened a scheme that will let you swap out current stamps before new barcoded versions are rolled out.
Both first and second class stamps will become defunct, meaning the only stamps you'll be able to use beyond January 2023 are the barcode versions, collectables and Christmas.
Post sent with non-barcoded stamps after January 2023 may incur a surcharge that will need to be paid by the recipient.
This will be treated in the same way as if not enough postage has been paid.
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