The price of stamps is set to rise again next month, with the price of second-class stamps increasing by more than 10 per cent from April.

Royal Mail said the price of first-class stamps will increase by 10p to £1.35 and second-class stamps will increase by 10p to 85p.

A year ago, a first-class stamp cost 95p before being hiked to £1.10 in April 2023, before another 15p increase in October last year.

The increase comes after warnings by the loss-making firm over the impact of higher costs and lower demand for letters.

Nick Landon, chief commercial officer at Royal Mail, said: “We always consider price changes very carefully, but we face a situation where letter volumes have reduced dramatically over recent years while costs have increased.

“It is no longer sustainable to maintain a network built for 20 billion letters when we are now only delivering seven billion.

“As a result of letter volume decline, our posties now have to walk more than three times as far to deliver the same number of letters as before, increasing the delivery costs per letter.”

How much is a 1st class stamp?

The cost of a first class stamp is currently £1.25 after a rise on October 2, 2023.

The latest increase means stamp prices have more than doubled since 2012 which was the year before Royal Mail was privatised.

Before the price increase, the cost of a first class stamp was £1.10 meaning that the cost rose by 15p.

The postal service put up the price of its first-class stamps by 15p in April 2023 which is the first time the stamp would cost over £1.

When it comes to stamp books - the cost of a standard 1st Class stamp book (4x) is £5.

Meanwhile, the Large Letter 1st Class stamp book costs £7.80.

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How much are 2nd class stamps?

The cost of a 2nd class stamp is currently 75p.

2nd class stamps were unaffected by the October price hike.

Royal Mail said at the time that the cost of a second-class stamp would stay at 75p which is below the European median of 94p.

Meanwhile, a Large Letter 2nd class stamp will set you back £1.55.

Those looking to purchase a Large Letter 2nd Class stamp book will currently spend £6.20.