SINGAPORE – From Oct 9, the cost of local standard regular mail will increase by 20 cents, said SingPost on Tuesday.

The rate will be increased to 51 cents, up from 31 cents currently, to “reflect the escalating costs of maintaining the postal service”, it said.

To manage increase in costs, SingPost will issue a 1st Local stamp booklet of 10 stamps to each household from the end of October.

The last significant rate increment was in 2014, when postage costs increased from 22 cents to 30 cents.

“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,” said SingPost.

Between FY2018/19 and FY2022/23, mail volumes declined by more than 40 per cent, it said.

SingPost said that the rate adjustment will help address the loss caused by the persistent decline in postal volumes. This is coupled with costlier labour, utilities, fuel, and higher conveyance expenses.

“This rate increment is necessary for SingPost to continue serving its obligations as Singapore’s public postal licensee while allowing further exploration of a more sustainable postal business model in the long term, balancing the need to remain viable while safeguarding the interests of its shareholders,” it said.

SingPost will also introduce upcoming changes to simplify the domestic postage rate structure, including eliminating the weight criteria to make postal services more user-friendly.

Since 2014, SingPost has been absorbing inflationary costs and essentially kept its postage rates constant, said Ms Neo Su Yin, chief executive officer Singapore of SingPost.

“With the intensifying cost pressures and challenging business landscape, it is inevitable that we raise our prices to remain commercially sustainable so that we can continue providing the essential postal service for the nation,” she said.

Ms Neo also said that SingPost is focused on pursuing its strategic transformation towards eCommerce and logistics to mitigate the persistent decline in postal volumes and explore business growth opportunities.

The statement added that SingPost is working closely with the Infocomm Media Development Authority to conduct a structural review of the postal business and formulate a longer-term strategy to attain commercial sustainability.