An Post have shared the news that the price of a stamp will increase from February due to ‘falling letter volumes and rising overheads for fixed cost networks’
Post box in Dublin(Image: Getty Images)
The price of sending a letter in Ireland is set to increase from next month.
The national stamp will increase by 20c from €1.65 to €1.85 on Tuesday 3rd February 2026 for personal customers.
As European postal companies are stepping back letter services due to falling volumes and rising costs, An Post have said that they are “taking action to safeguard national delivery services and equal access to letter services nationwide, for the same price”.
In a statement on their website, An Post wrote: “More than 50% of outgoing international mail is destined for Britain, Germany and France so An Post has introduced this new Europe and Britain €3.50 rate rather than apply the higher Rest of World €3.95 to this category. In the UK, the equivalent European stamp costs €3.90. Rates for large envelopes, packets, over-the-counter parcels and Registered Post will also rise, as will rates for the innovative national and international Digital stamps.
“The price changes are carefully calculated to cover the cost of providing a world class national letter service to every address taking account of wage increases for postal staff in line with national pay awards, increased operating costs and letter volumes which have declined by a further 7 % in the last 12 months and more than 50% over the past decade. A similar rate of decline is forecast for 2026.”
Garrett Bridgeman, Managing Director of An Post Mails & Parcels said: “An Post’s priority is to support the Irish economy and communities by providing world-class services for the people and businesses country wide. We work hard on the economics of the business by introducing smarter work practices and managing costs to achieve fair, cost-reflective prices below the European benchmark average, and below the UK, despite falling volumes due to e-substitution. An Post remains entirely self-financed. Our quality of service is amongst the highest in Europe and we continue to innovate in the provision of vital services for the Irish economy and local communities. I’m pleased to confirm that An Post’s Community Focus supports including free postage to all nursing and care homes will continue throughout 2026.” “An Post remains committed to providing a top quality, sustainable postal service to the door for all customers. Increasingly, European countries have reduced letter delivery frequency to once or twice a week and now deliver to mail boxes outside the home or to central collection points. While An Post continues to design future generation mail services to suit customers’ needs, the company is committed to retaining the option of a next-day national service to the door, by trusted, trained postal staff in a growing fleet of emission free vehicles”, he added.
The free delivery service for all letter and parcels up to 1kg posted to residents of Nursing and Care homes in the State will be continued. The An Post-sponsored free Carepack service, for example, has reached over 120,000 residents since 2020. All existing stamps with ‘N’ (National) and ‘W’ (Worldwide) or specific euro denominations remain valid and fully useable after 3rd February 2026.