Denmark’s postal service, PostNord, has announced that it will stop delivering letters by the end of 2025. This decision comes as a result of a massive 90% drop in letter usage since the early 2000s. The country’s iconic 1,500 postboxes will start disappearing from June 2025.
Although letter deliveries will end, officials assure that Danes will still be able to send and receive letters through other services. Some companies have already expressed interest in handling the remaining demand for physical mail.
The decline in letter usage is not unique to Denmark. Across Europe, postal services are struggling with falling demand. Germany’s Deutsche Post recently announced job cuts due to similar challenges. In Denmark, the shift towards digital communication has made traditional mail unprofitable. Most government services now use digital platforms like the Digital Post app, reducing the need for physical mail.
Over the past two decades, letter deliveries in Denmark have fallen from 1.4 billion to just 110 million per year. However, the move away from physical mail has raised concerns, especially for the 271,000 people who still rely on traditional post, mainly elderly citizens and those in remote areas.
With this transition, around 1,500 PostNord employees will lose their jobs out of a total workforce of 4,600. The company plans to focus on parcel deliveries, as online shopping continues to grow. Additionally, any unused postage stamps from 2023 or 2024 can be refunded for a limited time in 2026.
PostNord, which is 40% owned by Denmark and 60% by Sweden, has seen an even sharper decline in letter volumes in recent years, with a 30% drop just last year. As digital communication becomes the norm, Denmark’s postal system is undergoing a historic transformation, marking the end of four centuries of letter delivery.
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