As confirmed by several local media in the UK, Amazon is to increase the price of its monthly Prime subscription service by 12.5% (£1) to £8.99 from September in the latest sign that delivery costs are rising. The company said the price of an annual Prime package, which includes unlimited deliveries for online shopping, access to its video and music streaming services, and its Amazon Fresh grocery deliveries, would rise by more than 20%, or £16, to £95, although this remains a discount on the monthly option.
Amazon said the rise in fees, which will be implemented as members’ contracts come up for renewal from 15 September, was the first since 2014 and came after a series of improvements in its Prime service. “We have increased the number of products available with fast unlimited Prime delivery, recently added ultra-fast fresh grocery delivery, and have significantly expanded our high-quality digital entertainment, including TV, movies, music, games, and books,” a spokesperson said to the Guardian. They added that Prime Video had tripled the amount of original Amazon content since 2018, with series including "The Boys" and "The Terminal List" and UK-produced shows such as "Clarkson’s Farm" and "Backstage" With Katherine Ryan. The service has also added access to Premier League football and Autumn Nations rugby in the UK. It will launch "The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power" series in September, with the company spending a reported US$465 million on its first season to make it the most expensive TV show ever.
The smallest proportional increase of 20% will be applied in the UK, where the price will increase from £79 to £95 per year. The UK was already the most expensive European country for a Prime subscription, with this being the first price increase since 2014. Italy and Spain will experience the same 39% increase from €36 to €49.90 per year, while the price will go up by 30% in Germany from €69 to €89.90 per year. The most significant increase proportionally will be in France, where the price will go up 43% from €49 to €69.90 per year.
The news comes months after Amazon upped the price of Prime subscription in the US from US$119 per year to US$139. According to Reuters, the company has attributed the upped prices to “increased inflation and operating costs” while also pointing toward its increasing content investments. At the beginning of July, Amazon acquired a rights package for the UEFA Champions League in the UK to break BT’s near-decade-long stranglehold on the competition. Amazon's price increase is the latest price rise among the significant streamers and follows a £1 rise from Netflix, £2 for premium subscribers in March, and a £2 increase on Disney+ subscriptions in February.