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| Danish Post Box |
Danes have become more and more digital, and what was once sent by letter is now received digitally by the vast majority of people. This means that there are very few letters left in Denmark. In fact, letter volumes have decreased by over 90 percent since 2000, and the volume of letters continues to decrease rapidly.
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, and we at PostNord are well equipped to help. That's why we're now focusing on becoming even better where Danes need us most - on parcels.
What this means for you
In the short term, this will not affect you - we will continue to deliver letters as you know it for the rest of the year. From 2026, this means that you will no longer be able to send and receive letters with PostNord in Denmark.
If you need to send basic letters (Letters, Business Letters, Direct Mail and Magazine Mail), it must be handed in to us by 18 December 2025. The last day to hand in Quick Letters, Registered Letters, Letters with Return Receipt and Postal Services is 29 December 2025. We will deliver the last letters on December 30 2025.
We've made sure that all postal labels purchased in 2024 - or to be purchased in 2025 - can be refunded for a limited time in 2026 if you don't use them in 2025. We'll let you know more about how you can do this as soon as possible.
On 1 June 2025, we will begin removing the 1,500 mailboxes that are currently located around the country. We expect all mailboxes to be removed no later than 31 December 2025. The mailboxes that have not been removed can still be used. It will be marked on each mailbox well in advance when it will be removed.
From the FAQs
- You can send letters to and from abroad with PostNord for the rest of the year. PostNord Denmark has been appointed by the Ministry of Transport to handle international mail until 31 December 2025. After that, it will be up to the Ministry of Transport to decide, e.g. through a tender, who will handle the task in the future.
- Throughout 2025, you will receive letters as usual with PostNord, but from 1 January 2026, it will no longer be PostNord, but other actors on the market, who delivers letters to Danes.
(PostNord's 29 krone inland letter rate has been undercut by an new parcel operator which also handles letters, for a still high 23 krone (£2.59). But since 2024 stamps could only be used on international, not inland mail. The value of collections of Danish stamps has plummeted and if you like well produced colourful stamps as a sideline, now would be an opportunity to provide a mint collection for a fraction of the catalogue prices. Collectors and dealers will be feeling mightily disgruntled!)
Dissapointing, but I suppose if there's still another courier available it's not all that bad.
ReplyDeleteThose inland letter rates for a small country like Denmark are shocking though..
When I read this, three questions immediately come to mind:
ReplyDelete1) Will the Danish Post continue to delight collectors with stamps?
2) When will other postal administrations follow suit?
3) Is this the end of collecting new stamp issues? (However, I am convinced that classic philately will continue to exist!)
The next postal administration to follow suit is likely to be Sweden. Post Nord is a joint Danish & Swedish postal company. When I was in Sweden last summer I was advised to take my postcards back to England to send them because stamps in Sweden are so dear. In Ireland you can now buy a code to send a letter which can be hand written on the envelope and I am told that while you can still buy stamps, that is a dearer way to send your post.
DeleteA standard letter within Ireland is €1.65; a digital letter is €2.22 but it does include delivery notification. But if you're only sending a postcard or greetings card, you wouldn't use the more expensive option. And it's a big difference!
DeleteFor letters to the UK&Europe it's €2.65* / €2.95 so not such a big difference. (I was charged €2,20 last September for P&G type stamps.)
Regarding Sweden - they have rather lovely stamps compared to ours in my view, so when I was there just before Christmas I did send postcards. They came back in 2-3 days! I think it was around the same price though as sending a postcard from here. I was surprised by the efficiency - and the Postal Museum in Stockholm has been refurbished now and really impressive too. A recommended visit!
DeleteIt is nice that HJF has enjoyed danish stamps but I always found Scandinavian stamps a bit too small to be pretty. PostNord is a merger of the former Danish and Swedish postal administrations; two fifths owned by Denmark and three fifths by Sweden, so the answer to question 2 is that Sweden will probably make a similar decision soon. I was in Sweden last summer and no-one mentioned the possibility of the withdrawal of letter post, and postcards were sold everywhere; in fact it was easier to get them than in Britain. However I was advised to take my post to England and send it form there because stamps in Sweden were so dear. Britain is more densely populated than Scandinavia so letter post will survive longer but there are bad omens for philatelists. Our special stamp calendar only covers half the year, prices rise twice as often and deliveries are shrinking.
ReplyDeletePer The Guardian article, 6 March 2025, the next letter service provider chosen by the Danish government is DAO, a current parcel and newspaper competitor of PostNord in Denmark. Since 1st November 2024 DAO has already being the public service for blind mail in braille.
ReplyDeleteThe map of "daoSHOP"s is very bright red, as they use mostly any kind of stores and shops. Part of their parcel propositions are nightime silence delivery and early morning newspaper in time for breakfast.
Their website: https://dao.as/en/ (yes, they use the American Samoa Internet country code top-level domain ; Is there a play-in-words in Danish?).
Sebastien
It is like SA in France:
DeleteDenmark - A/S - Aktieselskab
France - SA - Société Anonyme; SARL - Société à Responsabilité Limitée
Germany - Gmbh - Gesellschaft mit beschrankter Haftung
Italy - SpA - Società per Azioni
Malaysia - Sdn Bhd - Sendirian Berhad
Netherlands - BV - Besloten Vennootschap; NV - Naamloze Vennootschap
Norway - A/S - Aksjeselskap
Portugal - SA - Sociedade Anonima
South Africa - Beperk - Signifies a limited company
Spain - SA - Sociedad Anónima
Switzerland - AG - Aktiengesellschaft, SARL - Société à Responsabilité Limitée, SpA - Società per Azioni
Sweden - AB - Aktiebolag
USA - Inc - Incorporated
I think you misunderstood the Guardian's vague mention of DAO. They were granted a licence last year to deliver letters alongside PostNord (for a lower price as it happens), but whether they will win the tender for being the replacement for PostNord's letter delivery nationwide remains to be decided by the Danish Ministry of Transport.
DeleteThank you to wake me up => .as = SA... I wasn't thinking through yesterday indeed.
ReplyDeleteFor the future DAO letter role, there surely will be some public/politicians reactions to PostNord announcement and the Danish Ministry of Transport will clarify a lot of things: "Where do you mail letter?" seems simple. "Where do I receive my incoming mail or know that I have one waiting and where?" will imply a sort of "poste restante" instructions. Post-philately is "on" in Denmark.
My fear is what will happen to communication in Denmark in time of crisis - internet breakdown by accident or by intent, sea cable cut, email and sms-alerts are very ok to me but if they can't be sent, etc.