Denmark says goodbye to postal mail: digital communication is taking over!

Denmark says goodbye to postal mail: digital communication is taking over!

From December 30, 2025, Denmark will be the first country in the world to completely stop delivering and collecting letters. PostNord justified this decision as an economic necessity, as the volume of letters in Denmark will be reduced by around 30 percent in 2024. A new law has also lifted the general service obligation for postal companies, meaning that PostNord is no longer legally obliged to deliver letters. The price for a standard letter has already risen to the equivalent of 4.50 euros, which is partly due to the VAT exemption for postal services. This shift marks a profound change in the country's communication culture, where almost all administrative work can already be completed online.

Kim Pedersen, managing director of PostNord, explained that the traditional mail market is no longer economically viable. The increasing use of digital mailboxes for official communications and the decline in mail traffic appear to be part of a global trend. In many countries, the volume of letters has been falling for years, while parcel shipping is becoming the new main task for many postal companies due to flourishing online trade. However, especially in countries like India or Brazil, mail remains an important communication channel, as rising middle classes and inadequate digital structures are prevalent here. Denmark's decision is being watched internationally, and many European countries face similar challenges that could potentially result in similar decisions.

Digitalization and its effects

From 2026 onwards, traditional letter delivery will no longer take place in Denmark. The decline in letter volume over the last ten years is more than 50 percent. The Danish authorities are paying particular attention to digital transformation, which is already having a major impact on interpersonal communication. Invoices and official mail are increasingly being sent digitally, while private communication takes place via messenger services.

In view of falling revenues and high fixed costs, PostNord is forced to concentrate on parcel logistics, e-commerce solutions and express shipping in the future. It is important to emphasize that many Danish citizens already use digital mailboxes for official communications. As part of this change, there will also be paid alternatives for sending personal letters. To ensure that seniors and people with less digital experience continue to have access to communication, support programs should be set up.

The changes in Denmark could serve as a model for other countries, depending on their digital infrastructure. As digitalization continues to advance in the postal sector, looking at examples like Posti in Finland is instructive. Work is being done there to improve optical character recognition (OCR) in order to make automation processes in the service sector more efficient. The challenge here too is to remain profitable despite falling letter volumes and to effectively manage increasing parcel traffic. The experiences in Denmark and Finland show that postal services are under great pressure and are facing fundamental changes in society's communication behavior.

Further information on developments in Denmark can be found at vol.at, avronline.de and on digital transformation in the postal sector Universal Postal Union.