U.S. Post Office Seeks to Raise Stamp Prices in January

You can even use Forever stamps for outbound international letters. You’ll have to add additional stamps to get to the correct amount of postage for international mail, however. For international letters, a Forever stamp has the monetary value of the price of a first-class stamp on the day it is used.

A 1-ounce letter cost 6 cents in 1863, according to the USPS historian, and 8 cents 50 years ago. When the new price goes into effect in January, the cost of postage will have risen from 63 cents at the end of January 2023 to 68 cents, an 8 percent increase. The consumer price index, the government’s main gauge of inflation, has risen 3.7 percent in the 12 months ending August 2023.

Blame the internet

It's no secret that widespread use of email and the shift to online banking have taken a toll on the post office. People need fewer stamps for letters and bills these days, and businesses can reach customers more affordably and efficiently with email instead of junk mail.

The original U.S. Post Office Department, established in 1792 as part of the federal government, was reorganized in 1970 as the U.S. Postal Service, a separate agency, and generally receives no taxpayer money for operating expenses. According to a May 28, 2021, statement from USPS, the proposed postage price hikes are a first step in a plan to reverse a projected $160 billion in operating losses over the next decade.

A 2006 law capped postage increases at the consumer price index, the government's main measure of inflation. The same law, however, allowed the Postal Regulatory Commission to review the effects of the postage price cap, and in 2017, the commission ruled that the price cap hurt USPS profitability. In November 2020, the commission issued new rules that gave the Postal Service more flexibility when it comes to rate increases.