In Denmark, traditional letter delivery is rapidly disappearing as digital communication dominates. Postnord, the national postal service, has seen letter volumes drop by 90% since 2000. Once operating several sorting centers, it now runs only one, and by the end of the year state mail delivery will stop entirely. Around 1,500 workers—one third of the workforce—will lose their jobs, ending 400 years of Danish postal history.
For mail carriers like Perman Moano, letters now mostly consist of bills and magazines, and his workload has been shrinking. The average Dane receives just one letter per month, while online shopping continues to grow. Postnord plans to focus on parcel delivery, a profitable business in today’s e-commerce era.
Denmark, one of the world’s most digitalized societies, encourages citizens to use apps and online mailboxes for official correspondence. As a result, iconic red post boxes are being removed, and many Danes cannot even remember the last time they sent a letter.
Still, concerns remain for elderly citizens—about 250,000 people—who depend on physical mail and may struggle without digital skills. Across Europe, letter volumes have fallen by 50–70% due to digitization, though countries like Germany and Switzerland have experienced smaller declines. Denmark’s experience may offer a glimpse of what other nations will soon face: a postal future dominated by parcels rather than letters.
Vocabulary:
• grappling (verb): struggling to deal with a difficult situation. (countries grappling with declining letters)
• declining (adj/verb): becoming less or fewer in number. (letter volumes declining)
• slumped (verb): fell suddenly or dramatically. (letter volumes have slumped by 90%)
• profitable (adj): making money or bringing financial gain. (profitable parcel business)
• digitized (adj): converted into digital form, connected with using digital technology. (a digitized society)
• correspondence (noun): written communication, especially letters or emails. (official correspondence with authorities)
• exempted (verb): officially excused from something. (citizens exempted from digital mail)
• authorities (noun): people or organizations with official power, usually the government. (Danish authorities)
Source: BBC News