Sending letters in Czechia is getting pricier: Will they disappear altogether?

Sending a simple letter within Czechia has become ever more costly—now pricier than in many wealthier western European nations. This growing expense is sparking concern over not just pricing and performance, but also the long-term future of traditional postal services in the country.

As of April 2025, sending a standard domestic letter via Czech Post costs CZK 31. That’s more than in neighboring Slovakia and Poland—and even pricier than in Germany and Austria, where a stamp costs around CZK 25.

In the UK, often cited for high postal costs, a standard stamp still comes in cheaper at roughly CZK 25 too.

This sharp rise isn’t new. According to a recent deep-dive by German state company Deutsche Post, Czech Post’s letter postage has surged nearly 60 percent since 2018. And it's not just about higher prices—Czech residents now have to work one of the longest amounts of time in Europe (ranked 8th worst among all countries surveyed) just to afford to send a basic letter.

What’s behind the skyrocketing costs? Czech Post has been wrestling with serious financial woes. In 2023 and 2024, the company shuttered 300 branches and laid off thousands of employees in an effort to stay afloat. Price hikes have followed as the service scrambles to prevent further losses.

These rising costs, coupled with widespread branch closures, have sparked a larger debate: is traditional mail on its way out?

“In the future, delivering information physically will disappear completely,” economist Petr Bartoň told Czech media outlet Novinky. “Those who really need to use it will send a letter as a package through a parcel service. Today, prices are not that different.” Experts say this shift is already underway in Denmark.

Czechia’s digitization drive—such as the introduction and now increasingly widespread use of data boxes—has also made traditional post redundant in many cases.

This prediction may be coming true. Across Europe, digital communication has replaced much of the traditional letter mail, and postal companies are pivoting toward parcel logistics. Germany’s Deutsche Post, for example, thrives financially thanks to its ownership of global logistics giant DHL. 

Czech Post’s Balíkovna service also faces challenges. “It works with outdated technologies and a low level of automation,” economist Štěpán Křeček of BH Securities told Novinky.cz. “This leads to excessively high wage costs…there is a risk we will continue to cover the losses from public money unless privatization happens.”

As digitization accelerates and traditional services struggle, Czechia may soon have to decide: should it continue propping up a fading system, or fully embrace the digital shift?