Starting January 1, the price for sending express letters in Denmark will almost double from 10 to 19 kroner.
A price comparison, carried out by Radio24syv, shows postal service in Denmark is the most expensive of all the 28 EU member states.
In Norway, which has the second most expensive postal service, sending a standard 50 gram letter costs 8 kroner and 61 øre.
Fewer people send letters
Meanwhile, the average price for sending an express letter in the other EU countries is 4 kroner and 72 øre.
PostDanmark argues the significant price increase is necessary to cover the company’s expenses as the number of people sending letters continues to fall significantly.
According to PostDanmark, an average Danish family sends less than four priority letters a year.
Ineffective mail delivery
Bent Greve, a professor of social sciences at Roskilde University, believes the considerable prise rise will only discourage potential customers and even fewer people will use the postal service in the future.
Greve told Radio24syv that PostDanmark may not be very effective in mail delivery and thus has to increase prices to compensate for higher expenses.
“They can get away with it because they have a partial monopoly on delivering letters in Denmark,” Greve noted.
Sending a 50 gram priority letter will cost 25 kroner within the EU and 30 kroner to the rest of the world.