Photo: Emmi Korhonen / Lehtikuva
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Finland’s national postal service Posti will raise the price of stamps and parcel deliveries later this month due to a continuing drop in letter mail and increased transport costs.
The new rates will come into effect on Tuesday 27 May. The cost of sending a domestic letter or card weighing up to 50 grams will rise by 25 cents to €2.75. A priority class letter up to 20 grams will increase to €3.05, while economy class stamps will match the domestic rate at €2.75. The price of Christmas stamps will also rise by 10 cents to €1.70.
Posti’s head of consumer services Sami Määttä said the price changes reflect falling demand.
“People still use letters and cards to stay in touch, but volumes are falling steadily. That increases unit costs, which forces us to raise prices,” Määttä said in a press release.
Parcel prices will also increase, particularly for person-to-person deliveries. Posti said that growth in online marketplaces for second-hand goods has changed the structure of parcel traffic, reducing traditional one-to-one shipments.
The company emphasised that its operations are funded entirely by customer payments and receive no government subsidies.
“These increases are necessary to maintain universal postal services across the country, including cash-paid letter deliveries,” the company said.
According to Posti, Finnish consumers spend around €20 per year on sending letters or cards. The company estimates the new price levels will raise that figure by about €2 annually.
Stamped letter deliveries to homes now occur roughly once per month on average.
HT
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Source: www.helsinkitimes.fi
