(NEXSTAR) — A standard first-class stamp costs 73 cents today, but that price could go up five times within the next three years.
The United States Postal Service proposed raising the price of postage stamps in a document submitted to the Postal Regulatory Commission on Monday.
The price hikes would begin in July 2025, followed by additional increases every January and July through the end of 2027. The agency said these adjustments are necessary for it to meet its “legal obligation to be financially self-sufficient.”
All price changes will need approval from the Postal Service’s Board of Governors.
Customers will get a temporary break from “stampflation” in the meantime. USPS announced this week that it will not raise stamp prices in January 2025 after a recommendation from Postmaster General Louis DeJoy.
“Our strategies are working and projected inflation is declining. Therefore, we will wait until at least July before proposing any increases for market dominant services,” DeJoy said in a statement.
The USPS also said that it “remains committed to continued cost saving measures and to keeping its products and services affordable.”
Back in July, the price of a first-class stamp jumped from from 68 cents to 73 cents, marking the largest increase since 2019. The USPS has steadily raised postal rates in recent years, with stamp prices rising 46% since early 2019, when they were 50 cents, USPS data shows.
Despite the string of increases, stamp prices in the U.S. were still lower in early 2023 than in many other developed countries, including Canada and the United Kingdom, according to a ranking by the USPS Office of the Inspector General.