The increase came into effect on Tuesday (April 7), the Royal Mail said.
The Royal Mail has hiked the cost of a first-class stamp has risen by 10p to £1.80. The increase came into effect on Tuesday (April 7), the Royal Mail said.
Royal Mail blamed the price rise on falling numbers of letters being sent, combined with an increased number of addresses. Royal Mail's managing director of letters, Richard Travers, said: "We always consider price changes very carefully, balancing affordability with the rising cost of delivering mail.
"On average, UK adults now spend just £6.50 each year on stamps and there are 70% fewer letters sent than 20 years ago. In the meantime, the number of addresses we deliver to has increased by four million to 32 million addresses across the UK."
A second-class stamp has risen in price by 4p to 91p. Stamps bought before the price increase remain valid and can still be used for postage. Financial expert Martin Lewis had urged Brits to stock up on stamps before the price hikes.
The BBC and ITV star said in March that as old stamps don't have a price on them they remain valid after the rise.
The last time Royal Mail met its annual target for delivering first class post on time was in 2019-20.
Royal Mail was last year given the green light by Ofcom to no longer deliver second class post on Saturdays. Royal Mail will also only deliver second class post on alternate weekdays, instead of six days a week, under the shake-up.
But despite the reduced service, Royal Mail will still have a target for second class letters to arrive within three working days.
Royal Mail was bought last June for £3.6billion by Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky’s EP Group. Last month, Mr Kretinsky apologised for letters not arriving on time, but insisted the postal service cannot be fixed until reforms are put in place.
When asked by the chairman of the Business and Trade Committee to apologise for a declining service, Mr Kretinsky said: “I’m deeply sorry for any letter that arrives late.
“I’m deeply sorry if we are not delivering the letters on our promise, but I can’t adhere to your sentence that quality of service is declining as the numbers just don’t evidence that at all.”
He admitted the quality of service “is not where we want it to be”, but said its performance had been consistent over the past three years.