Denmark gets ready to cancel Christmas cards

The Danish post is the first to end letter collection, but others will follow.

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When Mr Peter Kurrild-Klitgaard and his family moved to Frederiksberg, a leafy neighbourhood of Copenhagen, 17 years ago, they had five or six post boxes within a few minutes’ walking distance. Today there are none.

They have been progressively removed by PostNord, the state-owned mail service. On Dec 30, PostNord will take things further: After 400 years, it will end its collection and delivery of letters entirely.

Denmark will be the first European country to do so. The step is demand-driven: Over the past 25 years, the volume of letters has declined by 90 per cent. In 2024 alone, it fell 30 per cent, the result of a new law that ended Denmark’s universal service obligation (which required postal companies to make service accessible to everyone at an affordable price) and opened the market to rivals.

It also scrapped the postal service’s exemption from value-added tax. Postage for a standard domestic letter shot up to 29 kroner (S$5.80), and 39 kroner for next-day delivery. That sealed the letter’s fate.

"In 2023, we still received 50 Christmas cards by post," says Mr Kurrild-Klitgaard. In 2024, the family received one.