Denmark, where digitalization is rapidly spreading, will stop delivering letters from next year.
The BBC reported that Denmark’s state-run postal service PostNord will end its 400-year-old letter delivery service by the end of this year.
At the same time, PostNord plans to carry out large-scale restructuring, cutting about 2,200 workers in the deficit sector and hiring 700 new people to expand parcel logistics.
The sharp drop in mail is behind this decision. Danish mail reached 1.4 billion barrels a year in 2000, but decreased to 110 million last year, a 92% decrease in more than 20 years. Only one postal sorting facility remained, and 1,500 red mailboxes across Denmark were removed. Denmark is considered one of the most advanced countries in digital administration in Europe. Denmark ranked second after Korea in the digital government evaluation released by the OECD in 2023. It is a ranking that has risen two places in just four years from fourth place in 2019.
While the expansion of the use of electronic documents and the establishment of online administrative services are rapidly progressing, the surge in postal rates has also affected as the postal market has been opened to the private sector and the duty-free system has been abolished since last year. Currently, you have to pay 29 Danish kroner to send a letter, and in the future, private delivery companies will be in charge of delivering letters between individuals.
The decrease in mail is not unique to Denmark, and similar phenomena are raised in European countries. It is analyzed that the number of traditional mail places around the world is decreasing, and instead, industrial reorganization centered on electronic documents and courier logistics is accelerating.
According to the McKinsey report, as of the late 2010s, mail throughput in Germany and Switzerland was 40% lower than in the early 2000s, 46% in the United States and 50% to 70% in the United Kingdom.
Germany’s Deutsche Post cut 8,000 jobs this year, while Britain’s Royal Mail, which has 500 years of history, has also decided to reduce the number of deliveries to cut costs. Korea is also expected to lose around 200 billion won this year alone due to the widening deficit in the postal business.
EJ SONG
US ASIA JOURNAL
