Denmark's post office letter delivery service, which has continued for more than 400 years, will end on the 30th (local time). The demand for physical letter delivery has plunged as digitalization has advanced rapidly.
According to CNN, PostNord, Denmark's state-run postal service, will make its final letter delivery that day. With the end of letter delivery, PostNord will cut about 1,500 postal-related jobs and remove 1,500 red postboxes installed across Denmark. Instead, it plans to focus on parcel delivery in line with the spread of online shopping.
Denmark is the first in Europe to halt post office letter delivery at the national level. As communication channels have shifted to WhatsApp messages, video calls and social media (SNS), Denmark's letter volume as of last year fell by more than 90% compared with 2000.
The Danish government's push for digitalization has also affected the drop in letter demand. Denmark is considered a country where digitalization has progressed rapidly, with 97% of the population aged 15 and older enrolled in the government's digital identity verification system, "MitID." In Denmark, sending and receiving official documents via email is already routine.
Andreas Bressbard, a PostNord Spokesperson, said, "With almost all Danes fully digitalized, paper letters can no longer play the same role as before," adding, "Most communication now takes place through electronic mailboxes, and the e-commerce and parcel markets are far outpacing the traditional postal market."
Going forward, Danes will have to submit physical letters through kiosks installed at stores. Letter delivery will be handled for a fee by DAO, a private delivery company. However, DAO's letter service processes both submission and payment digitally. This has raised concerns that older people unfamiliar with digital devices could be left out.
A Spokesperson for DaneAge, an advocacy group for the rights of older people, said, "For us, checking mail by phone or on a website is very easy, but it is not for people who are not familiar with the digital environment," adding, "DAO's service also requires payment, and payment is only possible digitally, so it ultimately presupposes digital use."
The halt to letter delivery is also likely to spread to other countries. Since July, the United Kingdom has reduced regular mail delivery from the previous six days a week (Mon.–Sat.) to two or three weekdays, and France, citing decreased use of postal services from next year, has signaled a stamp price increase, making shrinking postal demand a common concern among major countries. CNN said, "Other countries are likely to follow suit in the end."
There are also projections that the status of letters will change with the times. Dirk van Miert, a professor at the Huygens Institute in the Netherlands, said, "The knowledge networks that made letters possible for centuries are continuing to expand online," noting that letters could take hold as a means of conveying messages that are more intimate than digital media.