From January, anyone who sends letters or postcards will have to dig a little deeper than before.
The Federal Network Agency gave preliminary approval for the increase in postage on Friday, as the Bonn authority announced.
A standard letter costs 85 cents after the turn of the year, 5 cents more than before.
The postage for the compact letter is then 1 euro (previously 95 cents) and that for the postcard is 70 cents (previously: 60 cents).
Other types of domestic mail will also be more expensive.
The official procedure for the postage increase was initiated a few months ago. It is now certain that Deutsche Post can implement its plans to increase postage. However, it is a provisional approval because the parcel industry association Biek was invited to inspect the files and was given the opportunity to comment in the proceedings. The final approval should come in the spring. It is very unlikely that anything will change then.
Because people in the digital age write more and more emails or chat messages and receive advertising via the Internet, the volume of letters has been falling for a long time.
Nevertheless, the mail business is lucrative for Deutsche Post.
This is due to the state-approved postage increases, which usually come every three years.
The new postage is planned to apply until the end of 2024.