SingPost to raise international postage rates by 5 cents from Jan 1
The cost of sending most international airmail letters, printed papers, aerogrammes and postcards will go up by 5 cents from Jan 1, Singapore Post announced on Dec 7.
But aerogrammes to Malaysia and Brunei will remain at 80 cents each and there is no change to the additional weightage.
The postal services provider said its upcoming rate hike was the result of annual fee revisions made by the Universal Postal Union, which in turn led to a progressive increase of international postal settlement rates over the years.
This settlement fee is payable to postal organisations of destination countries for mail delivery.
SingPost’s 5 cent rate increase applies to zone 1 (Malaysia and Brunei), zone 2 (countries in Asia and the Pacific except Australia, Japan and New Zealand) and zone 3 (Australia, Japan, New Zealand and the rest of the world).
For mail – letters and printed papers – to zone 1, the new rate will be raised to 85 cents from 80 cents for mail weighing up to 20g; $1.05 cents for mail up to 50g (from $1); and $1.45 for mail up to 100g (from $1.40).
The rate for every additional 100g of mail to zone 1 will remain unchanged at $1.10. Postcards to this zone will be charged at 75 cents apiece compared with 70 cents previously.
Rates for mail going to zone 2 will be raised to 95 cents from 90 cents for the first 20g, with charges for every additional 10g to remain unchanged at 25 cents. Postcards going to zone 2 will be charged 85 cents per piece as opposed to 80 cents previously.
A rate of $1.55 for the first 20g of mail will apply to zone 3 destinations, compared with $1.50 previously, with no change to the 35 cents charged for every additional 10g. A higher 85 cents rate will apply to postcards per piece to this zone, compared to 80 cents.
Weight limits stated for mail rates to all three zones are capped at 2kg.
In late 2022, SingPost announced it would raise its postage, package and doorstep parcel delivery rates from Jan 1, 2023 in line with earlier goods and services tax hikes.
From Oct 9, 2023, the group increased its standard regular mail rates by 20 cents, or 65 per cent, to 51 cents, from 31 cents. This marked the first significant rate increment introduced by SingPost since 2014.
Shares of SingPost were trading up 0.5 cent, or 1.1 per cent, at 45.5 cents as at 9.33am on Dec 7, after the rate hike announcement.
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