OREANDA-NEWS. How expensive is a standard letter in Germany when you compare it with letter prices in other European countries? And what criteria do you have to use to determine real letter prices? Deutsche Post looked into these questions and discovered that mail prices at home remain among the most reasonable in Europe. Only in five other countries, most of which are significantly smaller than Germany, is the price for a standard letter lower whereas customers in 24 other countries have to pay more for letter mail than in Germany. The most expensive price is in Bulgaria, the cheapest in Malta.

The 14th edition of the annual European letter price survey examines prices for standard letters in all 28 European member states as well as in Norway, Switzerland and Iceland from three vantage points. First, simple, nominal letter prices are compared with one another, and here German postage (at 62 euro cents) lies in the mid-range. If other essential factors are then incorporated into the investigation, such as the differences in purchasing power and labor costs in the individual countries, it becomes clear that the price of a standard letter in Germany is one of the cheapest in Europe. Finally, the ten-year retrospect on letter prices in Europe also confirms this view. Adjusted for inflation, letter mail prices in Europe have risen by more than 22 percent over the last ten years. In contrast, they have dropped four percent in Germany – despite a rise in the price of postage to 62 euro cents at the start of the year.

For cross-border letter mail within Europe, postage prices at Deutsche Post remain reasonable: Germany remains in the lower range of the ranking – 25 (out of 31) – despite the slight price increase from 75 to 80 euro cents. As a result of numerous price increases in many countries of Europe the average price for a letter on the continent has risen to 1.09 (+ 6 euro cents).