ANACOM study on "Comparisons of prices of universal postal service providers in the European Union in 2015https://www.anacom.pt/render.jsp?contentId=1385368”.
This study compares the prices charged to residential customers of mail postage services and postal parcels included within the universal postal service, as charged by universal service providers in Portugal and other Member States of the European Union (EU). The study covers, in particular, priority and non-priority national mail up to twenty grams in standard format, priority intra-community cross-border mail up to twenty grams in standard format, and national parcels up to two kilograms. The study reports on 2015, providing a comparative analysis of price trends compared to 2014 and 2008.
The analysis shows that, for all the prices analysed, prices charged in Portugal are below the EU average.
The price of sending national priority mail up to 20 grams was 15% lower than the EU average (excluding Portugal) in 2015, and was 16.5% below the average in 2014. Portugal rose from 10th position in terms of lowest price in 2014 to 9th place in 2015, which it shares with Estonia (although the price increased more in 2015 than the EU average).
Compared to prices prevailing in 2008 and 2011, the price in Portugal increased at a slower pace than the average price of other Member States.
As regards the non-priority national mail service, the price of sending an item up to 20 grams in Portugal is 16.4% lower than the EU average (excluding Portugal), and the 9th lowest price among the 17 countries that offer this service. In comparison to the prices prevailing in 2008 and 2011, the price in Portugal increased at a faster pace than the EU average.
The price of sending an item of cross-border mail up to 20 grams with a destination in other Member States is 28% lower than the EU average (excluding Portugal), rising from 7th position in terms of lower price in 2014 to 5th lowest price in 2015. As in the case of national priority mail, this price has increased at a slower pace than the EU average, compared to the prices in force in 2008 and in 2011.
In terms of national postage parcels, the price in Portugal of sending a parcel nationally of up to 2 kg was 3.8% lower than the EU average (excluding Portugal) in 2015, and the 15 lowest price in all Member States. In 2014, the price was 6.6% lower than the EU average and was also the 15th lowest. Compared to 2008 and 2011, it the price of this service has increased at a higher rate than the EU average.
Considering purchasing power parity, prices in Portugal in 2014 and in 2015 were below the EU average, except for the price of national parcels, which were above the European average.
