Question: How does our first class postage rates compare to other countries?

Answer: The answer comes from Susan W. Wright, Customer Relations Coordinator, U. S. Postal Service:

The prices below compare postage costs of different countries at the time the current USPS prices took effect in 2007.  Any comparison of postage costs in different countries will be “apples to oranges” because of numerous differences:

Products and services vary greatly from country to country and are not equivalent across the board, even for basic items like our First-Class Mail.

Country size, population, economic development status, geographic scope,  demographics (rural, urban, etc.) and terrain all influence how postal services can be delivered, and how much they cost.

National currencies and economies have widely varying degrees of stability. If you’ve ever traveled to other countries, you know how often the dollar exchange rate changes.

So any comparison of postal prices is a snapshot of a single day or week, not an accurate long-term perspective.

Postal agencies are structured and financed very differently from one country to another.

The U.S. Postal Service operates only on money raised by the sale of its products and services; no U.S. tax dollars are allocated for USPS operations. With “postal liberalization” and privatization around the world, some national postal services are independent companies allowed to operate as private businesses with no pricing restrictions. Others are partly or fully-owned government corporations, or similar variations, receiving varying degrees of government subsidy. And, some national postal agencies remain entirely government-operated with nearly full government funding. Therefore, a comparison of only postage costs doesn’t provide an accurate picture of the portion of costs that are paid for by postal customers.

Comparative First-Class or Letter Mail Equivalent Prices in USD

Country	Price of First-Class Equivalent (letter mail) in USD as per Universal Currency Exchange rate Feb. 27/07
	Domestic	International (air)
	1 oz/20g Next wt. up	Close Zone Rest of World
United States *effective May 14, 2007*	.41 .58	.69 .90
Australia	.39 .79	.99 1.47
Argentina	.24 .89	1.13 1.29
Brazil	.27 NA	NA NA
Canada	.45 .94	.80 1.33
China	.16 .32	.64 .90
Colombia	1.31 NA	NA NA
Denmark	.84 1.07	1.29 1.47
France	.64 .92	1.05 1.19
Germany	.73 1.19	.92 2.25
Hungary	.32 .47	.94 1.04
Italy	.79 1.85	.86 1.32
Israel	.36 .60	.52 .52
Japan	.66 .75	.75 .91
Mexico	.58 .67	.94 1.17
Nicaragua	.18 NA	NA NA
Peru	.46 NA	NA NA
United Kingdom	.62 .86	.86 .98
Uruguay	.70 NA	NA NA

And, the United States Postal Service also has a postage price calculator for domestic and international postage prices.

This will list the price of mailing items from the U.S. to international locations:

For example, a first class postcard mailed inside the U.S. would cost $0.26. To mail that same postcard to say the Democratic Republic of the Congo the cost would be $0.90.

 Linda Niemi

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