SINGAPORE — From Oct 9, it will cost 51 cents to post a letter or greeting card within Singapore, up from the current 31 cents — a 64.5 per cent rise.

In a press release on Tuesday (Sept 19), Singapore Post (SingPost) said that the postage rate increase for standard regular mail is due to the “escalating costs” of maintaining the postal service and declining mail volume. 

To help people manage the rise, SingPost will issue a stamp booklet comprising 10 stamps for domestic mail to each household, starting end-October.

The company added that it will also simplify the domestic postage rate structure, such as by eliminating the weight criteria of mail to make postal services more user-friendly.

The last significant rate increase was nine years ago in 2014, when postage rates increased from 22 cents to 30 cents.

SingPost said that mail volumes had declined by more than 40 per cent in the financial years of 2018 to 2019 and 2022 to 2023.

“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,” it added.

The company said that that the adjustment will help it “address the loss caused by the persistent decline in postal volumes coupled with costlier labour, utilities, fuel, and higher conveyance expenses”.