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UK Franking Machine & Business Post Statistics 2026
Business post in the UK is shrinking and getting more expensive at the same time. Fewer letters are sent each year, but each one costs more to post than it did a decade ago. If you're deciding whether a franking machine makes sense, or just trying to explain your postage budget to the finance director, these are the numbers worth knowing.
Everything here comes from published sources: Ofcom's postal monitoring data and Royal Mail's own price guides. We've noted where each figure comes from and when we checked it. Where reliable data doesn't exist, we've said so rather than guessing.
Key figures at a glance
- 6.5 billion addressed letters were sent in the UK in 2024-25 (Ofcom, checked October 2026).
- That was a 2.0% fall on the year before, a much slower decline than the 9.0% fall in 2023-24.
- 70.7% of letters (about 4.6 billion) were access bulk mail, handed over to Royal Mail by other operators for final delivery.
- Royal Mail's own end to end addressed letters totalled about 1.9 billion.
- Total addressed letter revenues were £4.0 billion in 2024-25.
- Parcel volumes rose 7.1% to 4.2 billion items.
- A 1st Class stamp cost 41p in 2010 and £1.80 from April 2026.
- A franked 1st Class letter costs £1.77 from April 2026, just 3p less than a stamp.
Letter volume trend
Letter volumes in the UK have been falling for years as invoices, statements and marketing have moved online. Ofcom's figures for the 2024-25 financial year show 6.5 billion addressed letters, down 2.0% year on year. That followed a much steeper 9.0% drop in 2023-24 (Ofcom Post Monitoring Report 2024-25, checked October 2026).
Ofcom notes that 2024-25 included the July 2024 general election, which added election mail. That may have softened the decline, so it's too early to say the trend has levelled off.
What it means for businesses: the letters still being sent tend to be ones that need to be physical, such as legal documents, official notices, medical letters and contracts. These are often sent 1st Class, and often as large letters, which is where franking saves the most.
Who carries the letters
Most letters in the UK aren't collected by Royal Mail at all. They're collected by other operators, sorted, and handed to Royal Mail for the final delivery. Ofcom calls this access mail. In 2024-25, access bulk mail made up 70.7% of letters, about 4.6 billion items, with its share unchanged from the year before. Royal Mail's own end to end addressed letters came to about 1.9 billion (Ofcom, checked October 2026).
Franked mail sits within Royal Mail's end to end letters, along with stamped mail and other Royal Mail business services.
Franked share
We wanted to show exactly what share of UK mail is franked. Unfortunately, neither Ofcom's published monitoring data nor Royal Mail's public price guides break out franked mail volumes separately, as far as we could find in October 2026. We'd rather leave a gap than publish a guess. If Royal Mail or Ofcom publishes a reliable figure, we'll add it here.
What we can say is that franking is now a Mailmark only service. Royal Mail decertified older franking machines, and since 1 January 2023 franked mail without a Mailmark barcode is returned to the sender (Royal Mail Business Price Guide, checked October 2026).
Stamp price history
This is the trend that hits every business's budget. Here's the 1st Class standard letter stamp price since 2010, from published price histories (checked October 2026):
| From | 1st Class stamp | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 41p | |
| 2011 | 46p | +5p |
| April 2012 | 60p | +14p |
| 2014 | 62p | +2p |
| 2015 | 63p | +1p |
| 2016 | 64p | +1p |
| March 2017 | 65p | +1p |
| March 2018 | 67p | +2p |
| March 2019 | 70p | +3p |
| March 2020 | 76p | +6p |
| January 2021 | 85p | +9p |
| April 2022 | 95p | +10p |
| April 2023 | £1.10 | +15p |
| October 2023 | £1.25 | +15p |
| April 2024 | £1.35 | +10p |
| October 2024 | £1.65 | +30p |
| April 2025 | £1.70 | +5p |
| April 2026 | £1.80 | +10p |
A few things jump out:
- The price has more than quadrupled since 2010, from 41p to £1.80.
- It more than doubled between January 2021 and April 2026, from 85p to £1.80.
- Price rises got more frequent. From 2023, Royal Mail often changed prices twice a year.
- The biggest single jump was October 2024, up 30p in one go.
The 2012 jump followed Ofcom's decision that year to remove most price controls on stamps.
Franked vs stamp prices today
As stamp prices have climbed, the franked discount on standard letters has become very thin. Here's the picture from 7 April 2026 (Royal Mail, checked October 2026):
| Item | Stamp | Franked | Saving |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st Class letter | £1.80 | £1.77 | 3p (1.7%) |
| 2nd Class letter | 91p | 88p | 3p (3.3%) |
| 1st Class large letter up to 100g | £3.30 | £2.86 | 44p (13.3%) |
| 2nd Class large letter 501g to 750g | £2.70 | £2.50 | 20p (7.4%) |
What it means for franking costs
Put those trends together and the case for franking has changed shape.
Standard letters. The saving is tiny. A business sending only standard letters needs very high volumes to cover a machine's monthly costs. See our analysis of whether a franking machine is worth it.
Large letters. The saving is significant. Since remaining physical mail skews towards important documents, many of which are large letters sent 1st Class, franking still pays well for businesses like solicitors, accountants, schools and estate agents.
Accuracy. As each stamp gets more expensive, overpaying "just to be safe" costs more. A franking machine's scale makes sure you pay the right amount.
Budgeting. With prices changing up to twice a year, businesses should review postage costs at every tariff change. Our Royal Mail prices and stamp costs pages are updated when prices change.
Parcels are growing
While letters fall, parcels grow. Ofcom recorded 4.2 billion parcels in 2024-25, up 7.1%, with domestic parcels at 3.6 billion, up 5.8% (Ofcom, checked October 2026). For businesses that have moved from letters to products, the postage question is increasingly about parcels, where franking machines with larger scales compete with online tools like Click & Drop. See our franking vs Click & Drop comparison.
How to use these figures
If you're building a business case for or against franking, these numbers give you a few useful angles:
- For budgeting: assume stamp prices will keep rising. Since 2021, the 1st Class stamp has gone up at least once almost every year, and often twice.
- For a franking decision: focus on your large letter volume. That's where the franked discount is meaningful.
- For reducing post: with letter volumes falling nationally, it's worth asking which of your own letters could go digital. Every letter you stop sending saves the full postage, not just the franking discount.
Charts showing the stamp price trend and letter volumes are in the tables above. For the raw Ofcom data, see Ofcom's postal volumes and revenues dataset for 2024-25.
What happens next
Nobody can say for certain where prices go from here, but the recent pattern gives some clues. Royal Mail has changed letter prices at least once a year since 2021, and the gap between franked and stamped standard letters has stayed at a few pence. Large letter discounts have held up better. Ofcom continues to review the universal postal service, and changes to delivery days or service standards could affect both prices and how businesses choose to send post.
For businesses, the practical takeaway is to treat postage as a cost that rises every year and to review it at each tariff change. Look at your mix of standard and large letters, check whether more could go 2nd Class, and ask whether any regular mailings could move online. Then decide whether a franking machine still earns its place on your desk. We'll update this page as new data from Ofcom and Royal Mail is published.
Methodology
- Letter and parcel volumes and revenues: Ofcom, Post Monitoring Report and postal volumes and revenues data for financial year 2024-25 (April 2024 to March 2025), checked October 2026.
- Stamp prices: published 1st Class price histories, cross checked with Royal Mail's current price list, checked October 2026. Figures for 2010 to 2016 are the price for most of that year.
- Franked prices: Royal Mail Business Price Guide valid from 7 April 2026, checked October 2026.
- Franked share: not published in the sources above, so not included.
You're welcome to use these figures with a link back to this page. If you spot an error or have a better source, let us know.
If you'd like to cite a figure, please quote the original source (Ofcom or Royal Mail) along with the date it applies to, because postal prices and volumes change every year.
FAQs
How many letters are sent in the UK each year?
About 6.5 billion addressed letters in 2024-25, according to Ofcom.
How much has a stamp gone up since 2010?
From 41p to £1.80 for a 1st Class letter, more than four times as much.
Is franking still cheaper than stamps?
Yes, on every standard letter and large letter service, though only by 3p on a standard letter.
Looking for a deal?
If your post mix makes franking worth it, compare quotes from approved suppliers. Compare franking machine prices.
