Deutsche Post: Letter mail prices within Germany to remain stable in 2009
The prices charged by Deutsche Post for letters and postcards sent within Germany will remain unchanged next year. The Federal Network Agency responsible for regulating the most important mail prices thus confirms the pricing proposal submitted by Deutsche Post.
After a price reduction in 2003, postage for the Standardbrief (standard letter) in Germany remains stable at 55 cents for the seventh year running, with no change to the high quality of service.
The prices for other domestic mail products, such as postcards, Kompaktbrief (compact letter), Großbrief and Maxibrief (oversize letters) as well special services remain unchanged. With inflation currently running at more than three percent, Deutsche Post is clearly bucking the general price trend. Despite rising production costs, Deutsche Post customers will benefit from stable mail prices in 2009 too.
In terms of international mail, Deutsche Post is continuing to pursue its objective of adjusting price structures and simplifying them for customers. As is the case for the domestic portfolio, there will also be an international Großbrief up to 500 grams in future. Under this harmonization process the prices for letters weighing between 50 and 100 grams will increase, while prices for letters weighing between 100 and 500 grams will fall significantly.
Prices for less commonly requested products, such as the international Kompaktbrief up to 50 grams, will also increase from 1.00 to 1.25 euros and from 2.00 to 2.20 euros respectively. There will be price adjustments to simplify the pricing structure for certain products aimed at business customers.
Under the terms of the statutory pricing procedure Deutsche Post has the opportunity to increase prices in 2009 by an average of 0.4 percent for a fixed basket of goods consisting of domestic and international products. The company will not make full use of this flexibility, however, and will instead only implement a slight price increase of 0.1 percent on average through pricing changes applicable to international mail items.
