Adrienne Murray and Paul Kirby
In Copenhagen and London
Getty images
Denmark’s deliveries of letters began in 1624
The postal service managed by the state of Denmark, Postnord, must end all deliveries of letters at the end of 2025, citing a 90% drop in volumes of letters since the beginning of the century.
The decision reached an end of 400 years of the company’s letters service. The 1,500 postal boxes of Denmark will begin to disappear from the beginning of June.
The Minister of Transport Thomas Danielsen sought to reassure the Danes, claiming that the letters would always be sent and received as “there is a free market for letters and packages”.
Postal services across Europe are struggling with the drop in volumes of letters. Germany Deutsche Post said Thursday that it had chopped 8,000 jobs, in what it called a “socially responsible way”.
Deutsche Post has 187,000 employees and staff representatives said they feared that more cuts are to come.
Denmark had a universal postal service for 400 years until the end of 2023, but as the digital messaging services settled, the use of letters dropped considerably.
Fifteen hundred workers faced by the loss of their job, on a workforce of 4,600.
“It’s a super sad day. Not only for our department, but for the 1,500 that face an uncertain future,” the employee Anders Raun Mikkelsen told the Danish broadcaster Dr.
Denmark ranks among the most digitized countries in the world.
There is an application for almost everything: few people use money, and the Danes even wear drivers licenses and health cards on their smartphones.
Banking declarations, invoices and correspondence from local authorities are all sent electronically.
Public services send communications via a digital publication application or other platforms and postnord Denmark says that the letters market is no longer profitable.
The numbers of letters fell since the beginning of the century from 1.4 billion to 110 million last year.
The decision will affect the elderly the most. Although 95% of dans use the digital post service, 271,000 people have always reported on physical mail.
“There are many who are very dependent on the letters delivered regularly. These include meeting at the hospital, vaccinations or decisions concerning home care,” the Denmark told Danmem, Marlene Rishoj Cordes, of Aeldre Sagen (Danesage).
Postnord resisted years of financial difficulties and last year was a deficit.
The Danish deputy Pelle Dragsted blamed privatization for moving and complained that the move dismantled people living in distant regions.
The introduction of a new postal law in 2024 opened the letters market to competition from private companies and mail is no longer exempt from VAT, resulting in higher port costs.
“When a letter costs 29 Danish krone (£ 3.35; $ 4.20), there will be fewer letters,” said Kim Pedersen, general manager of Postnord Denmark, Kim Pedersen.
He said that the Danes had become more and more digital and that the drop in volumes of letters had become so pronounced that it had fallen up to 30% in the past year.
The company said that it would pass its goal to parcel deliveries and that any postage stamp purchased this year or in 2024 could be reimbursed for a limited period in 2026.
Postnord also operates in Sweden. It belongs to 40% Danes and 60% belonging to the Swedish.
