UPS and FedEx general rate increase history, 2020 to 2027
The short version
- Matching headline increases for seven rate years, 2020 through 2026, each between 4.9% and 6.9%. FedEx has announced 5.9% for 2027; UPS’s 2027 figure is pending.
- In this period UPS increases took effect in late December and FedEx increases in the first week of January.
- Compounding the announced averages gives an illustrative index 47.9% above the end-of-2019 baseline through 2026, and 56.7% with FedEx’s 2027 increase. Individual rates follow their own paths.
- The announced average is not what a shipper pays. On the published 2027 FedEx rates the increase ranges from 3.09% to 7.20% by service, weight and zone, and surcharges rise faster than base rates.
- A percentage discount does not shield you, because it is taken off the new, higher list rate. A cap on the annual increase, written into the agreement, reduces the rate of compounding on the charges it covers.
UPS and FedEx each announce an annual general rate increase, and for seven rate years, 2020 through 2026, the two carriers announced matching headline averages: 4.9% for 2020 and 2021, 5.9% for 2022, 6.9% for 2023, and 5.9% for 2024, 2025 and 2026. FedEx has announced another 5.9% for 2027, effective January 4, 2027; UPS’s 2027 announcement is pending as of October 13, 2026. Compounding the announced averages produces an illustrative index 47.9% above the end-of-2019 baseline through 2026, or 56.7% including FedEx’s announced 2027 increase; individual published rates follow different paths. The announced figure is an average across the whole rate table, and what any one shipper pays rises by more or less than it, depending on weights, zones, surcharges and the terms of their agreement. Other pricing changes, to surcharges, fees and rules, can occur during the year.
UPS and FedEx general rate increases by year
The announced average increase on published package rates, with the date each took effect. The averages cover domestic ground and air services and, at both carriers, international package services as well. Surcharges and fees have their own effective dates under separate announcements; FedEx’s 2020 announcement, for example, put rate changes on January 6 and further surcharge changes on January 20. Each figure links to the announcement or the dated report of it.
| Rate year | UPS | Effective | FedEx | Effective |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 4.9% | December 29, 2019 | 4.9% | January 6, 2020 |
| 2021 | 4.9% | December 27, 2020 | 4.9% | January 4, 2021 |
| 2022 | 5.9% | December 26, 2021 | 5.9% | January 3, 2022 |
| 2023 | 6.9% | December 27, 2022 | 6.9% | January 2, 2023 |
| 2024 | 5.9% | December 26, 2023 | 5.9% | January 1, 2024 |
| 2025 | 5.9% | December 23, 2024 | 5.9% | January 6, 2025 |
| 2026 | 5.9% | December 22, 2025 | 5.9% | January 5, 2026 |
| 2027 | Not yet announced | 5.9% | January 4, 2027 |
Sources, by row: FedEx 2024 from the FedEx newsroom release of August 29, 2023; FedEx 2026 and 2027 from the FedEx rate changes page; the other rows from Supply Chain Dive’s dated reports of each announcement, or the Sifted timeline where no dated report was found, each checked against the carriers’ Service Guides and Rate and Service Guides in force on the date. UPS 2027 will be added when UPS publishes it.
Two patterns are worth noticing. The carriers did not diverge on the headline figure in any of the seven rate years from 2020 to 2026: when FedEx announced, UPS matched it. And the figure has settled at 5.9%: the 4.9% years ended in 2021, 2023’s 6.9% was the only year above six, and FedEx has now announced 5.9% for four consecutive rate years, 2024 through 2027.
What the announced averages compound to
Each year’s increase applies to rates that already carry the previous ones, so the increases multiply rather than add. Compounding the announced averages gives an illustrative index, not the measured path of any one rate: individual published rates rose by more or less than the average each year. Taking the baseline as a published rate before the 2020 increase took effect, at the end of 2019, as 100:
| After the increase for | Announced | Index (end of 2019 = 100) | Cumulative increase |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 4.9% | 104.9 | 4.9% |
| 2021 | 4.9% | 110.0 | 10.0% |
| 2022 | 5.9% | 116.5 | 16.5% |
| 2023 | 6.9% | 124.6 | 24.6% |
| 2024 | 5.9% | 131.9 | 31.9% |
| 2025 | 5.9% | 139.7 | 39.7% |
| 2026 | 5.9% | 147.9 | 47.9% |
| 2027 (FedEx announced) | 5.9% | 156.7 | 56.7% |
Calculated by ebb Logistics from the announced averages: 1.049 × 1.049 × 1.059 × 1.069 × 1.059 × 1.059 × 1.059 = 1.4795, and × 1.059 again = 1.5668. An illustration of the headline figures compounding; an individual rate cell follows its own path.
Added together, the seven announced increases through 2026 come to 40.3 points. Compounded, they come to 47.9%. That gap of nearly eight points is the effect of each increase being applied on top of the last, and it is why a shipper whose agreement was signed in 2020 at what seemed a good discount is paying against list rates roughly half again as high today under the same percentage.
Why your increase is not the announced average
The announced figure is the average change across thousands of cells in a rate table, weighted however the carrier chooses to weight them. Your increase is the change in the cells you actually ship in, plus everything the average leaves out.
- Weights and zones. The increase is not uniform. We compared FedEx’s Standard List Rates effective January 5, 2026 with those effective January 4, 2027, cell by cell: every weight from 1 to 150 lb in zones 2 to 8, 1,050 cells per service, for Ground and Home Delivery, First Overnight, Priority Overnight, Standard Overnight, 2Day A.M., 2Day and Express Saver, as simple unweighted averages. Ground packages of 1 to 5 lb rise 6.49% on average while 21 to 50 lb packages rise 5.57%, and across the seven services the individual cells range from 3.09% to 7.20%. In that comparison, light Ground packages land above the 5.9% headline. Our FedEx 2027 article has the full method and tables.
- Surcharges. Surcharges change under their own announcements and have risen faster than base rates. For 2027, FedEx residential delivery rises 6.98%, the extended residential delivery area surcharge 9.09% and oversize 7.81%, against a 5.9% headline. As an illustration, a shipper with 35% of spend in surcharges feels that difference directly; the share is measurable from a year of invoices.
- Minimum charges. Most agreements set the minimum net charge as an adjustment off the 1 lb zone 2 list rate, so it rises with the list. On light packages already billed at the minimum, the increase is the whole increase, whatever the discount. How that works is in our article on minimum net charges.
- Dimensional weight and rule changes. Some years carry a rule change that is not in the percentage at all: the 2026 FedEx changes added cubic-volume triggers for additional handling and oversize charges, and both carriers have lowered dimensional divisors and rounded fractions of an inch upward in past years.
- Zone changes. Carriers also revise which ZIP pairs fall in which zone under separate announcements; FedEx has published zone classification changes for select ZIP pairs effective February 1, 2027. A lane that moves up a zone is priced from a different column of the new table, on top of the increase in the column it was in.
What a discount does, and what a cap does
A negotiated discount is a percentage off the published rate. When the published rate rises 5.9%, the discounted rate rises 5.9% too: 55% off $12.70 is $5.72, where 55% off $11.99 was $5.40. The discount percentage stays the same, but the amount you pay increases with the published rate. Surcharge discounts behave the same way, and a surcharge discount expressed in dollars rather than a percentage loses ground faster still, because the dollar amount does not grow with the charge.
What limits a shipper’s exposure is a cap on the annual increase, written into the agreement: a term that limits the year-on-year change in net rates to a stated percentage, or fixes the minimum charge, or holds named surcharges flat for the life of the agreement. Caps are negotiable; in the agreements ebb negotiated in 2026 they ranged from 4% to 4.75% a year against a 5.9% announcement. A capped increase still compounds, and a cap on base rates can leave minimums, surcharges and rule changes outside its protection, so the terms it covers matter as much as the percentage. Caps reduce the rate of compounding on the charges they cover, and they are worth more the longer the agreement runs.
The GRI impact calculator splits your spend into base rates and surcharges and applies a separate increase to each. To measure the increase against your own shipment mix and your negotiated terms, our contract negotiation work prices every shipment under the old and new tables, and contract management tracks each year's increase against the caps and terms you already have.
Frequently asked questions
What were the UPS and FedEx rate increases each year?
Both carriers announced the same average each year: 4.9% for 2020, 4.9% for 2021, 5.9% for 2022, 6.9% for 2023, 5.9% for 2024, 5.9% for 2025 and 5.9% for 2026. FedEx has announced 5.9% for 2027, effective January 4, 2027; UPS has not yet announced its 2027 increase.
How much have FedEx shipping rates increased since 2020?
Compounding the announced averages for the seven rate years 2020 through 2026 gives an illustrative index 47.9% above a baseline set before the 2020 increase took effect, at the end of 2019. Including the announced 5.9% for January 4, 2027, the index is 56.7%. Individual published rates follow different paths, because each year’s average hides a range by service, weight and zone.
What was the UPS general rate increase in 2023?
6.9%, effective December 27, 2022, the largest annual increase in this period. FedEx announced the same 6.9% for 2023, effective January 2, 2023.
How do UPS and FedEx annual rate increases compare?
On the headline figure they were identical for the seven rate years 2020 through 2026; for 2027 FedEx has announced 5.9% and UPS has not yet announced. The differences are in timing, with UPS taking effect in late December and FedEx in early January, and in the detail underneath the average: which weights and zones rise most, which surcharges change and by how much, and what rules change alongside the rates.
Does a 5.9% rate increase mean my shipping bill increases 5.9%?
Rarely. The 5.9% is an average across the rate table. Light packages, residential deliveries and surcharge-heavy shipments usually rise by more, and heavier commercial freight by less. The fuel surcharge is a percentage of the new, higher charges, so fuel dollars rise with them. Your actual increase is what your own shipments cost under the new table against the old one.
Do negotiated discounts protect against annual shipping rate increases?
Not by themselves. A percentage discount is taken off the new list rate, so the net rate rises by the same percentage as the list. Minimum charges tied to the list rate rise with it. What limits the exposure is a term that caps the increase: a cap on the annual change, fixed minimums, or surcharges held flat, applied to the charges you actually pay.
Can I negotiate a UPS or FedEx annual rate increase cap?
Yes. A cap on the annual increase is a standard negotiable, and carriers agree to them, usually in exchange for commitment on volume or term. Caps of 4% to 4.75% a year appeared in agreements ebb negotiated in 2026. Check what the cap covers: a cap on base rates alone leaves minimums and surcharges to rise at the published rate. The time to ask is at renewal, before the next increase takes effect.
Sources
- FedEx, FedEx rate changes, for the 2026 and 2027 increases and their effective dates; the FedEx newsroom release of August 29, 2023 for 2024; and the FedEx Service Guide 2026, which references the January 6, 2025 Service Guide it supersedes. The 2027 cell-by-cell comparison uses the FedEx Standard List Rates workbooks effective January 5, 2026 and January 4, 2027.
- UPS, the 2026 UPS Rate and Service Guide, Daily Rates effective December 22, 2025, and UPS's annual rate announcements for 2020 to 2026.
- Supply Chain Dive’s dated reports of each announcement, linked from the table rows, and Sifted, 2020 to 2026 FedEx and UPS rate increases timeline, for the rows where no dated report was found.
- ebb Logistics, FedEx 2027 rate changes, for the cell-by-cell comparison of the 2026 and 2027 FedEx tables and the 2027 surcharge changes, and UPS 2026 general rate increase.