Starting in 2025, French postal and shipping services will increase by 6.8 percent on average, French news service BFMTV reported on Wednesday.
Prices for letters
The most common, classic letter format (lettre verte at 20g) currently costs €1.29, but it will increase to €1.39 in 2025.
A registered letter (lettre recommandée) which provides proof to the sender that it has been delivered, currently costs €5.36 but will increase to €5.74.
READ MORE: Lettre recommandée: Why you need them and how to send them in France
The ‘service plus’ option, which sends your letter or small package within two days (in France), includes tracking notifications via SMS or email. This currently costs €2.99 and will go up to €3.15.
As for the starting rate for basic international letters, Le Figaro reported this would increase from €1.96 to €2.10, while the online service ‘E-Letters’ (e-lettre rouge) will remain the same, as will simple tracked letters (lettre suivie).
Prices for parcels
Prices for parcels sent by private individuals are set to increase on average by 5.2 percent “for all destinations”, La Poste announced.
It is still not clear exactly how this will break down, but the group specified that increases will be limited to 3.1 percent for ‘direct marketing prices for businesses’.
Why the increase?
La Poste has already increased prices in the past year, having raised stamp prices by 8.3 percent in January.
The group told the French press they are raising prices again in an effort to “ensure the sustainability of the universal postal service with high quality in a context of inflation and falling mail volumes.”
With a decline in people sending letters, this part of the postal service only accounts for 15 percent of the company’s turnover, whereas in 1990 letters accounted for over 70 percent.
Households have also been spending less on postal services. In 2015, the average French household spent €48 a year, while in 2024 that amount was €29 a year.
According to BFMTV, La Poste has accumulated a deficit of 6 billion, and the group is now seeking to increase and diversify its revenues by focusing on packages (eg the subsidiaries DPD, Colissimo and Chronpost), as well as food and meal deliveries, mainly for the elderly.
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