DENMARK has become the first country in the world to stamp out its postal service following a massive decline in people sending letters to each other.
The country’s last letter to ever be delivered was handed over by veteran postie Brian Rasmussen yesterday, whose historic dispatch spelled the end of a four-century long service.
The Nordic nation is currently the only country in the world to axe its state-run postal service, PostNord.
Now deemed quaint and old-fashioned, the number of letters being sent in Denmark had dropped by 90 percent in the past 25 years, deeming the service irrelevant and no longer economically viable.
To post a standard letter, it was costing Danes £2.15 per stamp.
In the year 2000, PostNord delivered nearly 1.5 billion letters.
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Last year, it delivered 110 million.
PostNord has been removing and selling-off all 1,500 mailboxes across the country as the service signs off after 401 years.
Some mailboxes sold for more than £200 as hundreds of thousands of people tried to own what is now considered an antiquity.
A few were saved to be placed in museums for future generations to marvel at.
About a third of PostNord’s workforce has made redundant as the service closed – about 1,500 people are now out of work.
The company will focus solely on its profitable parcel delivery service, which continues to grow each year as online shopping continues to boom.
A PostNord spokesperson said the majority of communication between people was electronic now.
“The whole world is watching right now, and I think other postal companies and operators really look at the decision we took,” they told ABC News.
“There has actually been a big understanding from the public in Denmark.
“Most people can’t remember when it was the last time they sent a letter themselves.”
Instead of posting letters, Danes will now have to drop them off at kiosks in shops, from where they will be couriered by a private company to both domestic and international addresses.
People across Denmark have expressed their sadness at the closure, with many people taking to social media to reminisce.
“Look closely at the picture here,” one Danish user on X saidalongside a photo of a mailbox.
“Now in 5 years I will be able to explain to a 5-year-old what a mailbox was in the old days.”