Stamp issuance program January–June 2026 and new December stamp rates

Dutch flag Written in: Dutch • redactie •
The first half of 2026 brings a colorful palette of new stamp issues. Alongside the familiar WA franking stamps with the year 2026, a variety of framed stamps are appearing again, the successors to the Personal Stamps. Some of these align with existing series, while other themes explore entirely new territory. At the same time, the decline in the use of December stamps continues unabated. The figures show a clear shift in mailing behavior and point towards rising postage rates once again. Stamp issuance program first half of 2026 Contrary to custom, a chronological date sequence has not been maintained, but rather one with a combination of corresponding issues that will be issued during this period. In this way, it is easier to determine which are continuations of previously issued issues and which will be a new stamp subject. January 5 Experience Nature: birds Saba March 30 Experience Nature: butterflies Saba June 8 Experience Nature: underwater world Saba March 30: World Pride Amsterdam 2026 (July 25 – August 5) This Pride coincides with the 25th anniversary of civil marriage for everyone in the Netherlands (marriage equality), making it the first country in the world to achieve this. World Pride is a Gay Pride Parade organized once every few years in a major city somewhere in the world. A World Pride in Europe is also a Euro Pride. * Canal Pride August 1, UNITY Conference August 5-7. * The large time difference between the issue and the dates of World Pride Amsterdam is striking. May 8: Post Europa 70 years On the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the European Postal Union (CEPT: Conférence Européenne des Administrations des Postes et Télécommunications) on 26 June 1956. June 8: Write a card PostNL’s call-to-action proposal/recommendation “Write a card” could well correspond to previously issued issues, including “That’s worth a card” (nvph 2815 in 2011) and the similarly titled issue in 2013 (nvph hh3095). February 16th: New Dutch Design memories May 8: New Dutch Design sfeer Function run of December stamps The decline in the use of the December stamp is clearly evident from the data series below. Reason/cause? Nowadays, sending Christmas and New Year's cards is only done on a limited scale by people over 60 and the elderly even older. Young people make use of modern means of communication. The inaugural year of the December stamp, 1987, started with the use of 7,3 million December stamps, followed by no less than 143,7 million stamps the following year. The upward trend continued until 1994 with 212,1 million stamps. In 2012, the print run amounted to just 10,4 million stamps. The decline in December stamp usage to date can be seen in the data series below. Undoubtedly, there will be another postage increase halfway through this year due to a decreasing number of postal items and rising wages and costs.

27 comments

  1. In 2030, the rate will probably be €2,00. Then no one will send cards anymore. Maybe you won't even be able to send cards with PostNL then. The cabinet will have outsourced the universal postal service to another carrier. All PostNL stamps invalid. PostNL happy.

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  2. Can someone please explain why everyone is making such a fuss about the increase in postage stamp prices? It even invariably makes the national media. The impact on the household budget is negligible. I estimate that an average family collects 25 stamps per year: 5 regular and 20 Christmas. Of course, philatelists are excluded. So what are we talking about for the budget when the price rises by 9 cents—as it will this coming January?

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  3. '@ The.

    I completely agree with you; on an annual basis, the difference is negligible.

    You also hear that it is becoming “virtually unaffordable” for the collector. A hobby simply costs money; I spend more on my hobby annually than a year set costs. Even though I only collect Netherlands stamped stamps from the guilder era and plate errors.

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  5. Issue June 8: It turns out not to be a typo 'Schrijf eens een KAARTJE', but an incorrect interpretation on my part. The correct issue title is 'Schrijf eens een TAARTJE'.

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  13. Well Willem, tastes differ. And that's putting it mildly! 😉
    The designs are indeed identical, only the layouts are different. The Netherlands has the country name and value on the right, other countries below it, and still others have a square stamp with or without a white border.
    I won't buy a single stamp this year. That saves a lot of money too. At €2,11, the Netherlands is still one of the cheaper ones…

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  15. It is the end of May… Is nothing known yet about the issuance program for the second half of this year? Will it remain limited to 1x Experience Nature, 2x New Dutch Design, Children's Stamps, and December Stamps?
    PostNL also still hasn't announced anything official regarding any new rates on July 1st and the new Priopost…

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  16. On 10-08-2026: New Dutch Design – Glow of the moment
    On 28-09-2026: New Dutch Design – Echo of the party

    However, it should be noted that the source is an article by Bate Hylkema on Postzegelblog.

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  17. Second half of 2026:
    July 12, Mourning stamp Netherlands Prio.
    August 10, Experience Nature – Flora of Saba.
    August 10, New Dutch Design – Glow of the moment.
    September 7, Delft Blue.
    September 21, Children's Stamps.
    September 28, New Dutch Design – Echo of the party.
    October 5, Delta Works.
    November, December stamps.

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  18. That rate booklet as of July 12, 2026, did show that within those rates for priority mail, a distinction applies between priority bereavement mail and regular priority mail. Those rates also differ.

    Because of that, I expected that a regular/neutral priority stamp would also be issued (in addition to the stamp for mourning mail). This does not appear in the overview??

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  19. There will be no priority stamps for the other priority mail. If you want to send priority mail, you must go to a PostNL point and they will put a sticker on it there.
    I saw a picture of it recently. I'll just check if I can still find it.

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  20. I also saw in the new rate booklet that the rates for 50-350g, 350g-2kg, and larger than C4 are being aligned with the 50-350g rate. Does that mean that the XL stamp, which is currently worth €5,50, will be worth only €4,35 from July 12th…
    (Subject to printing errors. Stated on the last page…)

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  24. What kind of stamps (values) would the 'Delft Blue' issue actually consist of? This issue is priced at 14,95 euros.

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