Denmark Scraps Letters

Denmark will end all national letter delivery at the end of December, marking a significant transformation in the country’s postal services.

The Danish postal service is stopping mail delivery due to a surprising drop in demand, with letter volume plunging by more than 90 per cent since the start of the century.

The decision also affects Denmark’s distinctive red mailboxes, with the government poised to remove them and exhibit them in museums.

In the future, only parcels will be delivered as the postal operator adjusts its business strategy to focus on parcel logistics.

The need for quicker package delivery has increased due to the dramatic growth in online shopping.

PostNord says the change is designed to ensure the company’s long-term viability.

‘We want to become the preferred parcel service for Danes,’ the company told Bild. This change in strategy is intended to make the company future-proof.

If someone wants to keep mailing letters, they will need to use branches of other private providers.

PostNord also confirmed that any postage stamps bought this year or in 2024 can be refunded for a limited period in 2026.

Pelle Dragsted, a Danish MP, has previously blamed the shift on privatisation and claimed that it will harm the elderly and those who live in distant locations.

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

‘When a letter costs 29 Danish krone (£3.35) there will be fewer letters,’ PostNord Denmark’s Managing Director, Kim Pedersen, told local media in March.

Denmark’s action echoes a bigger global trend, with postal services globally experiencing financial strain as digital alternatives replace conventional letters.

The shift is evident elsewhere in Europe. According to the Federal Network Agency letter report, the number of letters sent is steadily declining.

The vast majority, about 95 per cent, comes from business customers such as companies and government agencies.

Private correspondence now represents only a slim amount of mail.

However, German postal authorities stress that there is no direct comparison.

Alexander Edenhofer, spokesman for the German DHL Group, told Bild: ‘The Danish postal service is not the German postal service. 

‘The two mail markets are only comparable to a limited extent. Despite declining volumes, letters remain important in Germany, and we expect to process and deliver letters for many years to come.’

Still, he acknowledges the challenges. ‘The news from Denmark shows how challenging the mail business has become,’ he added.

‘Digitisation is progressing rapidly, and mail volumes in Europe are shrinking quickly. This is putting a strain on all European postal service providers.’

In March, Germany’s Deutsche Post said it was axing 8,000 jobs, in what it called a ‘socially responsible manner.’

It’s not just postal workers who will lose their jobs, but card shops will be put out of business as well – eventually, everything will be done online, and there will be no high street retail shops; they will be a thing of the past in a dystopian world.

Simply put, we are being forced into a digital prison.

Royal Mail in the UK has now enforced policies to handle mail delivery, including not delivering or holding back letters when particular conditions are met.

If an item cannot fit through a letterbox or requires a signature, Royal Mail may attempt to redeliver it the following working day.

If no one is available to receive an item, Royal Mail will leave a ‘Something for you’ card and take the item back to the Customer Service Point. Items that cannot be delivered may be held at the Customer Service Point for a limited time before being sent back to the sender.

There are also instances where Royal Mail may prioritise parcels over letters, particularly during peak times like Christmas.

These practices reflect Royal Mail’s steps to manage mail delivery effectively, despite the challenges posed by a declining volume of letters.

As fewer and fewer letters are posted out, the unit costs go up, making it prohibitively more costly compared to electronic communication – this is a death spiral which has been on the wall for some time now.