BONN (dpa-AFX) - From the new year, anyone sending a letter in Germany will have to be a little more patient than before - and spend more money because of a simultaneous postage increase.

At the turn of the year, a legal regulation will come into force according to which Deutsche Post will only have to deliver the vast majority of letters - 95% in fact - to the addressee on the third working day after the letter has been posted.

The old mandatory value, according to which 80 percent of the volume posted today must be delivered by the next working day, is now history. Deutsche Post, as the mail business of logistics giant DHL is known, can reduce costs due to the reduced time pressure.

However, the Bonn-based company is not slowing down its delivery processes immediately, but gradually until the end of 2026 or the beginning of 2027 - only then will the processes comply with the new requirements, meaning that the vast majority of letters will only arrive after three days.

Sending letters will initially take two working days

On the way there, 2025 will be a transition year for Swiss Post. "We won't even exhaust the minimum requirements of the new Postal Act regarding letter delivery times," says Benjamin Rasch, Head of Product at Deutsche Post. "In future, letters will generally arrive at the recipient on the second day after posting, i.e. one day later than before."

The manager emphasizes that customers are primarily interested in reliability rather than speed when sending letters. All in all, not much will change for consumers when it comes to mail delivery in 2025.

Separate from private mail is corporate mail. In this market segment, certain corporate customers continue to have contracts under which their written documents - such as important insurance documents or bank documents - are usually delivered to the recipient on the next working day. Other corporate mail that is less time-critical takes longer.

Mailboxes will be empty more often

For consumers, the changes mean that their letterboxes will be empty more often on average in the coming year than before. This is because Swiss Post is making its delivery system more flexible: if its IT system recognizes that a consumer should receive a letter on a Tuesday and another letter on the following Wednesday, for example, the first letter will be held back and only delivered with the second letter on Wednesday.

This allows the letter carrier to save himself a trip to the letterbox - he therefore has to invest less time in posting these two letters. This flexible delivery will be gradually expanded.

According to the new legislation, it is permitted for one letter to be delivered on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday bundled as three letters on the same day - in this example on Thursday.

Urgent letters are sent as registered mail

If you are in a hurry, for example with late birthday mail, you still have a good chance of receiving your letter soon despite the system changeover. However, they will have to send a registered letter, which in most cases should reach the recipient on the next working day.

This costs 2.35 euros more than a normal letter, i.e. a total of 3.30 euros: The postage for a normal letter weighing up to 20 grams - a standard letter - will rise from 85 to 95 cents at the turn of the year.

The price for sending other types of letters and DHL parcels will also increase. Anyone who still has old stamps can continue to use them - they remain valid, but the items must be franked additionally./wdw/DP/he