Sending mail in Germany is set to get a little bit more expensive as of next year: Deutsche Post has announced it will put up its prices as of January 2022. 

Sending a standard letter in Germany will cost 85 cents

Deutsche Post will increase the cost of sending letters and postcards in Germany in the new year. According to current plans, the postage price for a standard letter will rise from 80 to 85 cents, and for postcards the price will increase by 10 cents to 70 cents. 

The company will also “moderately” increase its prices for other letter types, including the maxi letter, registered mail, and book and merchandise post from January 1, 2022. 

First Deutsche Price increase since 2019

The announcement came shortly after the Federal Network Agency - the regulatory organisation for electricity and gas, telecommunications, railways and post in Germany - said that it had given clearance for regulated companies to raise their prices by a margin of 4,6 percent. However, the Deutsche Post price hike still needs to gain the agency’s final approval. 

Deutsche Post pointed to its higher operating costs to justify the increase, stating that “only part of the cost inflation” will be offset by the higher prices. The 4,6 percent leeway is “less than compensating for the increases in the cost of wages that have occurred in the meantime and certainly not compensating for the expected increase in unit costs of the next few years.” 

Postage prices in Germany were most recently increased in mid-2019, when the price of sending a standard letter went up by 10 cents to 80 cents. This makes the planned increase the first in almost three years.