There will be a system of drop-off locations for letters. Photo / Getty Images
It is the end of a ritual which has endured for centuries in Denmark, dating back to King Christian IV’s 1624 decree to create one of Europe’s first modern post offices.
On December 30, with minimal fanfare, Denmark’s national post office will cease the delivery of letters, and its famous red post boxes will vanish from the streets soon afterwards.
PostNord, the Danish postal service, says it took the momentous decision to stop delivering letters after their usage fell by 90% over the past 25 years.
PostNord has said that the demise of the service was a “difficult” moment but stressed there was scarcely any demand left for posting letters and that the company needed to focus its efforts on parcels.
“Almost every Dane is fully digital, meaning physical letters no longer serve the same purpose as previously. Most communication now arrives in our electronic mailboxes, and the reality today is that e-commerce and the parcel market far outweigh traditional mail,” Andreas Brethvad, PostNord Denmark’s communications director, told the Telegraph.
“Letter volumes have decreased by over 90% since 2000, and the volume of letters continues to decrease rapidly,” PostNord’s official announcement said, alluding to the drop in letters volume from 1.5 billion sent in 2000 to 110 million in 2024.
“On the other hand, Danes are shopping online like never before. This means that there is a growing need for fast and good delivery of Danish parcels,” it added.
DAO, a private logistics company, has agreed to offer a letter service instead.
Danish towns and villages have also been given the chance to purchase their local red post box for up to 2000 kroner ($325), with the proceeds going to charity.
Children will still be able to write to Father Christmas in 2026.
“Next year, we are excited to present a new way that children can reach Father Christmas because a bit of Christmas magic is important for us too,” said Brethvad.
The decision has proven controversial in Denmark, which is famous for its array of online public services but also has a large elderly population, with one in five Danes aged over 65.
The DaneAge Association, a non-profit group that supports senior citizens, is concerned about the elderly struggling to adapt to a new regime of drop-off locations for letters instead of traditional post boxes.
“We have reaped great benefits from being one of the world’s most digital societies, but we forgot to allocate funds for the solutions needed to ensure that those who cannot be digital can still stay connected to society,” Marlene Rishoj Cordes, a senior political consultant for DaneAge, told the Telegraph.
“Instead, we have removed all the red, public mailboxes and directed citizens to a digital map of drop-off locations. This is the wrong direction to go,” she said.
As one of the world’s most digitised countries, where nearly all citizens’ services can be accessed by smartphone, it is perhaps no surprise that the humble letter has seen such a sharp decline in Denmark.
Known for its “default by digital” method, Danes can manage their taxes, healthcare and banking affairs online, as well as report crimes, change their address, or register a marriage.
It is a markedly different approach to neighbouring Germany, where the letter remains the state’s preferred method of communicating with citizens, in particular on matters of tax and immigration.
For some Danish MPs, the shift towards digital tools for nearly all aspects of public life is happening too quickly and without due concern for people in remote areas.
“Now we are turning into a country without a proper postal service, where people living in remote areas are put at a disadvantage,” Pelle Dragsted, a senior Danish MP from the left-wing Red-Green Alliance, complained earlier in 2025.
”[A country] where one can hardly count on being able to become a mail carrier where one lives,” he added, as he paid tribute to PostNord staff who were “paying the price for the politicians’ privatisation ideology”.
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