Singapore Post said it will be increasing the postage rate for standard regular mail from 31 cents to 51 cents – an almost 65 percent increase balming the increase due to rising costs and declining mail volume.
The 20-cent increase reflects the “escalating costs of maintaining the postal service”, SingPost said in its media release on Tuesday (Sep 19). The new postage rates will take effect from Oct 9 this year it said in a statement.
SingPost added that it will issue a first local stamp booklet of 10 stamps to each household to help manage the postage increase from the end of October. The last significant rate increase was nine years ago in 2014 when rates were increased from 22 cents to 30 cents, according to SingPost.
SingPost said the rate increment is necessary for it to “continue serving its obligations as Singapore’s public postal licensee”.
The adjustment will help address costlier labour, utilities, fuel, and higher conveyance expenses, it added. It will also help cushion the loss caused by the “persistent decline in postal volumes”.
The global structural decline in postal volumes over the last decade brought about by digital disruption has impacted the commercial viability of postal firms globally, noted SingPost.
“Between FY2018/19 and FY2022/23, mail volumes declined by more than 40 percent.”
Recently, the island state announced the increase in public transportation due to rising costs and also being long overdue, however, the timing is questionable as the nation continues to see declining growth and a steep rise in the cost of living.
