PostNord will cease to deliver letters in Denmark by the end of 2025 and let go 1,500 of its 4,600 employees in the country, the company has announced.
“Danes have become more and more digital and that means there are very few letters left today. The decline is continuing so strongly that the letters market is no longer profitable,” CEO Kim Pedersen said in a statement.
The number of letters sent in Denmark has fallen by 90 percent since 2000, and by 30 percent in just one year between 2023 and 2024.
Meanwhile, the company was last year released from its government-mandated obligation to have full delivery coverage in Denmark, termed befordringspligt in Danish. The change was a political decision and meant that PostNord lost millions of kroner in state support.
The price of sending a letter with PostNord rose to 29 kroner as a result of the loss of state support, but this has not covered the losses involved and left PostNord making an operating loss on letter delivery.
The company said that 700 of its 2,200 staff within its letter service will be offered positions elsewhere in the organisation. The remaining 1,500 jobs will be lost.
“For us to have a sustainable business, we need to adapt and the unfortunately involves the difficult decision to say farewell to many of our colleagues,” Pedersen said.
PostNord Denmark will continue to deliver parcels following the closure of its letter service. The Swedish arm of the company will continue to deliver letters. PostNord also offers parcel delivery in Norway and Finland.
The company, which absorbed former post service Post Danmark in 2009, is joint-owned by the Danish and Swedish states, with the Swedes owning 60 percent to Denmark’s 40 percent.
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