In Copenhagen, postman Herman Moyano begins his morning routine by sorting through bundles of letter, packages and magazines before setting out on his scooter. For the past seven years, Moyano has delivered mail for PostNord, Denmark’s national postal service, but he has witnessed a steady change in his load. Letters that once carried personal messages have been replaced largely by bills and bank statements, and the volumes have continued to shrink dramatically in recent years. “I have seen the mail going down gradually, but it’s really sped up lately. These days, it feels like it’s disappearing altogether,” he reflects.
That decline has now led to a historic decision. PostNord announced in March that it will cease letter deliveries by the end of the year, marking the end of four centuries of service. The decision comes amid a steep fall in mail volumes, a trend driven by digitalisation and high postage costs. The company has revealed that a third of its workforce will be cut, shedding around 2,200 jobs from its loss-making letter division, while 700 new positions will be created in its growing parcel business.
Kim Pedersen, head of PostNord Denmark, explained that letter writing has become a rarity in the country. On average, Danes receive only one letter a month. By contrast, online shopping has flourished, pushing the postal service to redirect its focus. In 2000, PostNord handled about 1.4 billion letters, but by last year the figure had dropped more than 90% to 110 million. The company once operated several letter-sorting facilities, but now only one remains on the outskirts of Copenhagen.
The decline has been accelerated by rising costs. In 2024, the postal market was opened to private competition, and the removal of a VAT exemption caused stamp prices to soar to 29 Danish krone ($4.55), one of the highest rates in Europe. Unsurprisingly, letter volumes fell even further. At the same time, Denmark’s government has embraced digital services aggressively. For over a decade, official correspondence with citizens has been carried out electronically, part of a “digital by default” policy. The OECD recently ranked Denmark as the second most digitalised nation in the world, behind only South Korea.
The trend is not unique to Denmark. Across Europe and beyond, physical mail is in sharp decline. McKinsey reports that global letter volumes have dropped by more than 30% from their historical peak, with some European countries seeing a 50–70% fall since 2008. Germany and Switzerland have experienced slower declines, but even there, volumes have been reduced by 40%. In the US, letters are down nearly 46%. Other national postal services are also under pressure. Germany’s Deutsche Post is cutting 8,000 jobs, and the UK’s Royal Mail is scaling back delivery frequency and loosening first-class targets.
Despite PostNord’s retreat, letter delivery will not disappear entirely from Denmark. Private courier DAO, which already distributes newspapers and parcels nationwide, will take over the service. DAO delivered 21 million letters last year and expects that number to grow by as much as 40 million after PostNord exits. Its chief executive, Hans Peter Nissen, insists that rural households will not be neglected, countering fears voiced by trade unions and advocacy groups for the elderly. DAO plans to install a new sorting machine and expand its workforce by 250 employees to meet the increased demand.
While the convenience of digital communication dominates, some Danes still value the tangible presence of a letter. Copenhagen resident Jette Eiring Williams, who writes to her daughter abroad, believes younger generations appreciate the sentiment behind handwritten notes. “She loves the physical touch of something, not just an email or a text,” Williams says. Her view highlights that even as technology transforms communication, the simple joy of receiving a letter may never vanish entirely.
