Denmark's Postal Service Calls It a Day After 400 Years

Denmark's national postal service is about to close the mailbox on letter deliveries. PostNord, the joint Danish-Swedish company that has handled Denmark's mail since 2009, will deliver its final letter on Dec. 30, ending a tradition that dates to 1624 and underscoring just how thoroughly the country has shifted to digital communication, per the Guardian. The practice of mailing letters has declined 90% in the last 25 years as Denmark has become "one of the most digitalised countries in the world," according to PostNord, which says its letter business is no longer sustainable. It's cutting 1,500 jobs and removing 1,500 of its familiar red mailboxes as it stops letter delivery and pivots fully to parcels. Parcel volumes continue to climb, per Freight Waves.

Letters won't disappear entirely. Indeed, Danish law requires that a letter option must exist. Private carrier Dao will expand from handling about 30 million letters this year to 80 million in 2025. But with the removal of mailboxes, users will have to drop items at Dao shops or pay extra for home pickup. The company suggests it's happy to be in such a position, as its research indicates a small revival among 18- to 34-year-olds, who send two to three times as many letters as other age groups, a trend one researcher attributes to a desire for relief from "digital oversaturation."

At Copenhagen's Enigma museum, director Magnus Restofte notes physical letters have become rare enough that their meaning has increased; a handwritten note signals time, cost, and intention. Restofte adds that if digital systems ever fail, reviving a national letter network would be difficult, especially in a country where 97% of people 15 and older use the MitID digital ID and only 5% have opted out of official "digital post." PostNord's deputy CEO Kim Pedersen calls ending the national letter service "a difficult decision" after four centuries but says the economics left little choice. Unused Danish stamps will be refunded for a limited period. Meanwhile, the nation's retired mailboxes are being auctioned off for between $150 and $200.