Changes to postage prices on January 1

The most common postage charges will change on January 1, 2014. The price of a domestic first-class stamp will increase to €1.00 (from 85 cents) and the price of a second-class stamp to 90 cents (from 75 cents). For international letters, the price for a letter or card weighing 20 grams or less will be €1.00 for first class and 95 cents for second class.

The prices of Posti's forwarding and delivery interruption services and parcel services will also change. The price of the most inexpensive parcel, weighing up to 2 kg, will be €7.60 after the change (formerly €7.40).

Finnish households spend an average of slightly less than €30 per year on sending cards, letters and parcels, which means that the annual increase per household will come to about €2-3.

The volume of letter mail has decreased, primarily due to electronic substitution, at an annual rate of 3-5%, with signs in recent months that the rate of this change has accelerated further.  If international trends are repeated in Finland, the volume of letter mail even decline by half by the end of the decade.

With a lower volume of publications and letters carried by mail delivery personnel, the costs per individual item are increasing. Prices must cover item collection, transport, sorting and delivery costs. Despite the measures taken to improve efficiency, costs cannot be reduced to fully correspond with the reduction in volume.

"Consumers are increasingly using online services and business mail volume has declined due to the economic recession. Our aim is to provide equally priced postal services throughout Finland. The postage prices for letters and parcels will still be the same regardless of distance," says Director Ulla Seppälä at Itella Posti.

Changes to Posti's terms of delivery on January 1, 2014

There will be certain changes to Posti's terms of delivery at the start of the year:

• Compensation related to international shipments will always be paid to the sender. The sender must seek compensation through the postal service in the country of origin.
• In online and distance selling, the sender's liability to the recipient generally extends to shipping. Consumers should notify the sender directly of damaged or lost shipments.
• Registered letters, insured shipments and letters with advice of delivery can be picked up at a postal outlet generally on the second, and no later than the third, weekday following their delivery.
• The Cash on Delivery additional service for registered letters and letters with advice of delivery will be discontinued and the Handing over to the receiver personally additional service will be subject to a fee.

More information on consumer services and prices Posti's website, Customer Service, phone +358 200 71000 (local/mobile call rate), Mon-Fri 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Stamps may be purchased at approximately 4,000 postal outlets or via Posti's online shop.

More information for the media: Itella MediaDesk, tel. +358 20 452 3366.

Itella Posti Oy provides mail services throughout Finland, including the deliveries of letters, publications and direct advertising, in addition to parcel and express transport services, Netposti, as well as Posti shops and outlets. Itella Posti Oy is part of the Itella Mail Communications business group, which reported net sales of MEUR 1,168 and employed 17,800 persons in 2012. Itella Mail Communications is part of Itella Group. www.itella.fi