Denmark’s state postal service calls time on letter deliveries

BBCDenmark’s crimson submit packing containers are being eliminated throughout the countrySorting by means of bundles of letters, small packages and magazines, Herman Moyano is preparing for his early morning submit spherical.Cargo bikes and vans stream out from the depot, simply north of Copenhagen, as Herman departs on his scooter.For the previous seven years he is been delivering mail for Denmark’s nationwide postal service PostNord.”I used to assume that each one the individuals are ready for one thing, a particular letter, a particular communication, a particular bundle,” he says.Nevertheless, Herman has seen the hundreds getting lighter, and fairly than letters, nowadays it is principally payments and financial institution statements.”I’ve seen the mail taking place progressively. However that is picked up tempo during the last couple of years,” he provides. “These days, it appears… it is going actually, actually down.”The steep decline in letter volumes has been pushed largely by digitalisation, and PostNord introduced in March, that it’s going to stop letter providers on the finish of the 12 months.It is going to convey to an finish 4 centuries of letter deliveries by the state-owned operation.A 3rd of its workforce is being let go, because it sheds 2,200 positions in its loss-making letter arm. As an alternative it would give attention to its worthwhile parcel enterprise, creating 700 new roles.”Danes hardly obtain any letters anymore. It has been taking place for years and years,” says Kim Pedersen, chief of PostNord Denmark. “They’re receiving one letter a month on common, it isn’t loads.””Quite the opposite, Danes love to buy on-line,” he provides. “World e-commerce is rising considerably, and we’re shifting with it.”Fifteen years in the past, PostNord operated a number of huge letter-sorting services, however now there’s only one on the western outskirts of Copenhagen.Since 2000 the amount of letters the enterprise handles has declined by greater than 90%, from round 1.4 billion, to 110 million final 12 months, and it continues to fall quickly.Postman Herman Moyano says he’s delivering fewer letters these daysAs PostNord prepares to stop letter deliveries, 1,500 of its crimson submit packing containers are being faraway from Danish streets. Nevertheless, few locals within the capital seem to make use of them a lot.Copenhagen resident Nikolaj Brøchner Andrès says he can not recall when he final despatched a letter. “I do not assume I’ve despatched a letter in years… I am not even certain how one can do it anymore, to be sincere.”From e mail and cashless cellular funds, to digital well being playing cards carried by smartphone, there’s an app for nearly the whole lot in Denmark, and it is one of many world’s most digitalised nations.The federal government has embraced a “digital by default” coverage, and for greater than a decade correspondence with the general public has been carried out electronically.In response to the OECD’s 2023 Digital Authorities Index, it ranks second solely to South Korea.”We face this pure evolution of a digitalised society, sooner than possibly another international locations,” Mr Pedersen explains. “In Denmark we’re possibly 5 or 10 years forward.”The excessive value of sending a letter in Denmark can also be a contributing issue behind its decline.In 2024 a brand new legislation opened up the postal market to non-public competitors, and took away its exemption from the nation’s 25% charge of VAT, so the worth of a PostNord stamp jumped to 29 Danish krone ($4.55; £3.35) per letter.”That made [volumes] drop even additional sooner,” Mr Pedersen factors out.The large fall within the variety of letters being posted is replicated Europe-wide, says postal sector professional Hazel King, editor of the journal Parcel and Postal Expertise Worldwide.”Letters throughout Europe have been declining for years,” she says. “I believe PostNord’s resolution is a mirrored image of how the entire market has gone, and the best way the patron is shifting.”Bodily mail has dropped by 30% or extra from its historic peak, throughout all main international markets, in line with a report by consultancy agency McKinsey.In Europe, Germany and Switzerland have seen the slowest [letter] decline, says Florian Neuhaus, who co-authored the research. “It is solely 40% there, however everyone else sees round a 50 to 70% decline [since 2008].”There is a related sample in the USA, the place mail has additionally declined 46%.”Clearly that is pushed by digitalisation and the way folks talk basically,” provides Mr Neuhaus. “General, the economics in letters are simply getting worse and worse.”PostNord now has just one sorting officeIn March, Germany’s Deutsche Publish stated it was slashing 8,000 jobs, and cost-cutting efforts on the UK’s 500-year-old Royal Mail will see it cut back second-class letter deliveries to solely each different weekday, whereas targets for top notch supply instances have additionally been lowered.”I do assume that we’ll see the top of letters within the mainstream,” says Ms King. “Nevertheless, I am undecided we’ll ever see zero letters, pointing to a necessity to guard medical letters, and providers for the aged, disabled and rural areas.In Denmark letter deliveries will not really come to an finish. As an alternative personal supply agency DAO is to step into the hole with its personal nationwide service.But DaneAge, an advocacy group for the aged, fears that older folks could battle with the modifications to letter deliveries.”Most aged reside in small cities and within the rural locations,” says Marlene Rishoj Cordes, one in every of its senior consultants. “When there’s not as many submit packing containers round, they may have a more durable time delivering mail. “In the meantime, the commerce union that represents postal employees, 3F Postal Union, has voiced considerations that rural providers could worsen.The decline within the posting of letters is a worldwide phenomenonDAO strongly disagrees with these fears. It is traditionally a newspaper and journal distributor with nationwide attain, and has grow to be one of many nation’s main parcel couriers.A current survey discovered DAO’s deliveries have been sooner, with extra letters arriving inside 5 days than PostNord.”We’re coming to all households, and we’re within the rural areas in the entire nation,” assures its chief govt Hans Peter Nissen.Final 12 months it dealt with 21 million letters and, from 2026 following PostNord’s exit, DAO expects to tackle 30 to 40 million extra.Its employees will ship letters instantly, whereas doing newspaper and parcel rounds, Mr Nissen explains. In the meantime, submit is collected from mailboxes inside affiliated outlets, although doorstep pick-ups might be booked on-line or over the cellphone, for a small extra charge.DAO plans to put in a brand new sorting machine, and add round 250 extra employees, to its 2,500 workforce.As bodily letters decline throughout Europe, Denmark’s expertise maybe affords a window on the long run.On this more and more digital world, nevertheless, there are nonetheless many who discover pleasure in sending and receiving private letters, together with Copenhagener, Jette Eiring Williams, who writes to her daughter abroad.”I believe the younger era desires that old fashioned feeling,” Ms Williams says. “She loves the bodily contact of one thing, so not simply an e mail or a textual content anymore.”Learn extra international enterprise tales