SENDING a letter locally and globally is set to cost more in the new year, Jersey Post has confirmed.
The company said the rise – which will see the cost of sending a local letter increase from 56p to 60p in January – was being driven by the ‘high cost’ of the mail plane, the current economic climate and higher operating costs. Jersey Post stressed that the increase for local letters was below the rate of inflation.
Meanwhile, the price of sending a letter to the UK will rise by 16p from 82p to 98p, while the cost of sending a letter to Europe will rise by 65p from £1.20 to £1.85.
Sending a letter outside of Europe will also rise from £1.75 to £2.55 (by 80p).
The volume of mail being sent has declined at the same time that operating costs such as transit and fuel have increased significantly, according to Jersey Post.
This year, the company said it has seen a 13% decline in outbound mail volumes – which was steeper than predicted, with the trend expected to continue in 2023.
Niall McClure, managing director, postal and logistics, said: ‘Due to the current economic climate, the postal sector as a whole is experiencing a number of challenges, some of which have already been highlighted above. One significant challenge for us in Jersey is the high cost of the mail plane.
‘Using the plane allows for next day delivery for certain postal products to and from the UK. However, to operate the mail plane costs approximately £1.23 per item in conveyance charges.
‘Historically, we have subsidised the cost of sending mail by air. Where we can, we have tried to minimise the costs next year to the end customer. For one of our most popular routes, the 100g letter to the UK, we are absorbing some of the cost by only charging 98p. In addition, we have held the local 2023 price changes in line with June’s RPI which was 7.9%. The latest RPI figure as of September is 10.4%.’
