U.S. Postal Service Announces Sixth Price Increase Since 2020

The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) has proposed a 7.8 percent price increase for stamps that would take effect in July to “achieve financial stability.”

A Tuesday press release from the service announced the filing of a notice with the Postal Regulatory Commission to increase the prices of various stamps by up to ten cents. 

A typical one-ounce letter first-class stamp will now cost 73 cents, instead of 68 cents. Domestic postcards went from 53 cents to 56 cents, and international postcards and letters have gone from $1.55 to $1.65.

The proposed increase, which the governors of the USPS have already approved, is set to occur on July 14 after being reviewed by the commission.

The federal mail service noted that the changes would “raise mailing services product prices [by] approximately 7.8 percent.”

Federal News Network reporter Jory Heckman took to X to point out that this would make for the USPS’s sixth price increase on mail products since 2020.

NEWS: USPS is asking its regulator for its *sixth* price increase on monopoly mail products since 2020. A first-class Forever stamp would go from 68 to 73 cents. Higher rates, if approved, go into effect July 14. pic.twitter.com/halFJkDHCk

— Jory Heckman (@jheckmanWFED) April 9, 2024

“The Postal Service is also seeking price adjustments for Special Services products, including Certified Mail and money order fees,” the agency added. “Notably, there will be no price increase for Post Office Box rental fees, and the Postal Service will apply a price reduction of 10 percent for postal insurance when mailing an item.”

The USPS claimed that “these price adjustments are needed to achieve the financial stability sought by the organization’s Delivering for America 10-year plan.”

The decade-long restructuring plan was announced in 2021, with hopes of eliminating the $160 billion in projected losses forecast to occur by 2030.

“USPS prices remain among the most affordable in the world,” the agency added in its recent press release.

In November 2023, the USPS reported a $6.5 billion net loss for the previous fiscal year, “as first-class mail fell to the lowest volume since 1968,” according to Newsmax.

The outlet added that the cost of stamps has risen by 50 percent over the last four years. In early 2019, stamps cost just 50 cents each.