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The cost of a stamp for a standard letter sent within the Bailiwick will rise by 2p to 52p from Monday 4 April.
This increase - which is 4% - is slightly below the annual rate of inflation locally up to the end of last year. It is also the first increase in the cost of a local stamp for nearly two years after the price was frozen last year.
However, the cost of a stamp for a letter sent to the UK will rise by around 8% - from 73p to 79p - also from Monday 4 April. This follows last year's increase of 5p on posting standard letters to the UK.
Guernsey Post said that postal services globally are facing unprecedented increases in costs.
Chief Executive Boley Smillie said: "The scale of the increases recently announced by Royal Mail - and the same for the charges which we are indirectly required to pay to other postal administrations around the world - are far greater this year than we have ever experienced before.
"Consequently, and regrettably, we have been left with very little choice other than to pass on most of the increase to our customers. All of the additional revenue generated by these tariff changes for mail destined outside of the Bailiwick will flow through to pay for the increase in the charges applied to Guernsey Post."
Pictured: Boley Smillie, Chief Executive of Guernsey Post.
The price of a letter to Europe will rise by 10p to £1.10. The price of a letter to the rest of the world will rise by 15p to £1.35.
But Guernsey Post also said that "based on customer feedback" it would freeze prices on large parcels to all destinations and on some international large letters.
Guernsey Post continues to face business pressures as the traditional letter market shrinks.
"Like every other postal administration, Guernsey Post’s core letter and large letter business continues to decline and it is only in part offset by the growth in parcel volumes," said Mr Smillie.
"In addition to the increases applied by other postal administrations, we have also experienced above inflation increases in sea and air transport costs, much of which we are absorbing."
Announcing the changes to its tariffs, Guernsey Post said that Royal Mail was intending to increase the cost of a stamp on a First Class letter in the UK by 10p from 85p to 95p.
Pictured: Guernsey Post has released this table comparing its tariff changes with those elsewhere.
For customers wishing to find out more information, the full tariff will be available to download from Guernsey Post's website from 21 March 2022.
In October, Guernsey Post announced that it would pay a dividend of £1.3million to its shareholder, the States, as it recorded an operating profit of £2.8million for the financial year ending 31 March 2021.
However, in December, the company faced criticism in a States' debate on its accounts when Deputies Neil Inder and David Mahoney questioned the skills of some of the company’s directors. The former claimed there was a “jobs for the boys” culture on its board. But Deputy Peter Febrache told deputies that "the debate that has gone on about non-executive directors has been arid, pointless and has gone on too long".
The inexorable decline in postal services' traditional letter business - largely as a consequence of the growth of electronic communication - goes back to the early- to mid-2000s. This has forced price increases for those traditional services.
Since 2005, the price of a local stamp has doubled - an increase twice the rate of inflation.
Pictured: Price changes for stamps between 2005 and 2022.
"Jobs for the boys" at Guernsey Post
Image credit (top, top right): Guernsey Post.
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