Postal rates in 2026: ever higher

The price of postage for letters and parcels will increase by an average of 7.4% on January ^1, 2026, including a 9.35% increase for the green letter for everyday items, which will rise to 1.52 euros, compared to 1.39 euros today.

On January ¹ , 2025, postal rates had already increased, on average, by 7.8%, the price of the green stamp going from 1.29 euros to 1.39 euros at the time, an increase of more than 6.8% (after + 11.20% in 2024 ).

The green stamp with the image of Marianne , under 1 euro in 2020, at 0.97 cents, cost only 0.53 euros in 2010, then 0.73 euros in 2017 (at the time there was a more economical rate, Ecopli, at 0.71 euros), before going up to 0.80 euros in 2018 (Ecopli at 0.78 euros)... The "current" postal rate has therefore practically doubled in eight years.

La Poste justifies this increase in prices by the need to "ensure the sustainability of the universal postal service with high quality" , while the continuous decline in the number of letters transported has been reducing La Poste's revenue for years.

A report from the Court of Auditors in February 2025 noted that "the Services-Mail-Parcels branch must cope with the fall in mail activity: in 2023, it only represents 15% of the group's turnover, compared to almost 50% in 2010." And from 18 billion letters delivered in 2008, postal traffic, which fell to 6 billion in 2023, could plummet to 3 billion by 2030.

Another factor contributing to the increase is that La Poste has just been renewed for ten years in its mandate as a universal postal service provider, which guarantees delivery six days a week. Its public service missions (mail and press distribution, regional planning, banking accessibility) are not fully funded by the State.

This shortfall cost La Poste €1.2 billion in revenue in 2023, according to Mr. Wahl, the company's CEO, who has been acting chairman of the public group's board of directors since June 25, with Philippe Bajou having been appointed deputy CEO.

In detail, as of January 1 ^, 2026:

– the price of the green letter, for non-urgent daily mailings, which was 1.39 euros in 2025, will rise to 1.52 euros;

– the price of a registered letter up to 20 grams will increase from 5.74 euros to 6.11 euros;

– that of the “services plus ” letter, for sending important documents, will increase from 3.15 euros to 3.47 euros;

– the price of the red e-letter, for urgent items delivered the next day, will be increased from 1.49 euros to 1.60 euros;

– the price of international letters up to 20 grams – for all countries in the world – will increase from 2.10 euros to 2.25 euros.

The price of the "tracking" sticker, which allows individuals to have information on the delivery of all their mail that has one, will remain at 0.50 euros.

La Poste emphasizes that customers of the online service for print-at-home stamps ( MonTimbrenLigne ) will benefit from discounts "based on the weight of their letter compared to the standard public price" . For example, the green letter will be available at a price of 1.49 euros (instead of 1.52 euros).

Furthermore, for businesses , the increases will amount to an average of +4.1% for direct marketing and +6.2% for "industrial management mail" .

Finally, the prices of Colissimo parcels sent by individuals will increase by an average of 3.4%, all destinations combined (France and international). The only good news is that La Poste reports that "the prices for sending parcels between mainland France and overseas will fall by almost 5%, taking into account the relaxation of air freight costs"...

The Regulatory Authority for Electronic Communications, Posts and Press Distribution (Arcep) specifies that the price increase planned for the period 2026-2029 must be capped at 7.5%.

According to a line of reasoning that might be laughable, the price increase will not, however, lead to an increase in household budgets for postal services, argues La Poste: "In 2025, a household's budget for postal products represents 28 euros per year on average." However, "given the drop in mailings, this expenditure on postal products should show a decrease of 6% in 2026." Quick, let's get rid of letter-writing! It will no longer cost anything to non-users!

For its part, the SUD-PTT union – which is calling for "a national debate on the public postal service" – points out that "the regular increase in prices (...) risks becoming exponential in the years to come" , with the continued decline in mail volume. "This suicidal strategy is very much questionable, given that La Poste is posting a profit of 1.4 billion euros and the decision to abolish the red stamp [ replaced by the red e-stamp in 2023 ] has only accelerated this decline in volume."

In Europe, France is among the most expensive countries for mail delivery. According to the 2023 edition of the Letter Prices in Europe report published by Deutsche Post, in 2023, only Estonia, Lithuania, Greece, Norway, Iceland, Finland, Belgium, Italy, and Denmark exceeded France (1.43 euros, compared to 4.30 euros for Denmark).

For its part, the Bundesnetzagentur (German Federal Network Agency) has calculated a "real" average price for sending a standard domestic letter by 2025, which takes into account, among other criteria, inflation. With a "real" average price of 1.85 euros, France is now only surpassed by Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Finland, and Denmark (which comes in at 3.84 euros), with the European average standing at 1.26 euros.

There is still time to stock up on stamps at the old rates to anticipate the upcoming increases and make some savings...