Denmark postal service to stop delivering letters

Denmark's state-run postal service, PostNord, is to end all letter deliveries at the end of 2025, citing a 90% decline in letter volumes since the start of the century.

The decision brings to an end 400 years of the company's letter service. Denmark's 1,500 post boxes will start to disappear from the start of June.

Transport Minister Thomas Danielsen sought to reassure Danes, saying letters would still be sent and received as "there is a free market for both letters and parcels".

Postal services across Europe are grappling with the decline in letter volumes. Germany's Deutsche Post said on Thursday it was axing 8,000 jobs, in what it called a "socially responsible manner".

Deutsche Post has 187,000 employees and staff representatives said they feared more cuts were to come.

Denmark had a universal postal service for 400 years until the end of 2023, but as digital mail services have taken hold, the use of letters has fallen dramatically.

PostNord says it will switch its focus to parcel deliveries and that any postage stamps bought this year or in 2024 can be refunded for a limited period in 2026.

Fifteen hundred workers face losing their jobs, out of a workforce of 4,600.

"It's a super sad day. Not just for our department, but for the 1,500 who face an uncertain future," employee Anders Raun Mikkelsen told Danish broadcaster DR.

Denmark ranks as one of the world's most digitalised countries.

There's an app for almost everything: few people use cash, and Danes even carry drivers' licences and health cards on their smartphones.

Bank statements, bills, and correspondence from local authorities are all sent electronically.

Public services send communications via a Digital Post app or other platforms and PostNord Denmark says the letter market is no longer profitable.

Letter numbers have fallen since the start of the century from 1.4 billion to 110 million last year.

The decision will affect elderly people most. Although 95% of Danes use the Digital Post service, a reported 271,000 people still rely on physical mail.

"There are many who are very dependent on letters being delivered regularly. These include hospital appointments, vaccinations or decisions regarding home care," Marlene Rishoj Cordes, from Aeldre Sagen (DaneAge) told Denmark's TV2.

PostNord has weathered years of financial struggles and last year was running a deficit.

Danish MP Pelle Dragsted blamed privatisation for the move and complained the move would disadvantage people living in remote areas.

The introduction of a new Postal Act in 2024 opened up the letter market to competition from private firms and mail is no longer exempted from VAT, resulting in higher postage costs.

"When a letter costs 29 Danish krone (£3.35; $4.20) there will be fewer letters," PostNord Denmark's Managing Director, Kim Pedersen, told local media.

He said Danes had become increasingly digital and the decline in letter volumes had become so pronounced that it had fallen by as much as 30% in the past year alone.

PostNord also operates in Sweden. It is 40% Danish-owned and 60% Swedish-owned.