Norway: Major mail delivery cuts for Posten

The Norwegian Government proposes mail delivery just once a week in Norway.

In the proposed national budget, the government suggests reducing mail delivery to just once a week starting July 1, 2027. Funding for Posten will be cut by 24 percent to NOK 1.52 billion in 2027, according to several media outlets.

"We are sending fewer and fewer letters, and soon we will receive an average of only one per week. This means we must rethink what postal services should look like," said Minister of Transport Kamzy Gunaratnam in a press release from the government.

Currently, mail is delivered every other day, but the government is now proposing that mail be delivered only once a week.

In the autumn of 2025, the government sent a proposal for a new Postal Act out for consultation. The proposal back then was precisely that mail should only be delivered once a week. However, in March of this year, the government set the proposal aside following more than 200 consultation responses. Now, the exact same proposal has been brought back.

Talking to Grafisk bransjeforening (The Norwegian Printing Association), leader Robert Wright stated that they will "mobilize all forces to prevent this proposal from going through."

"In a time of increased uncertainty, a robust physical distribution system is crucial if digital channels were to fail. A further reduction in delivery frequency could lead to the closure of magazines and less use of paper-based information. This would weaken an industry that is already under pressure," Wright said.

Several political parties in the Norwegian Parliament have also expressed disappointment over the proposal, so it remains to be seen whether the budget will pass.

Union furious

The union Fagforbundet has also reacted strongly to the proposal, warning that thousands of employees risk losing their jobs.

"We never expected this from a Labor Party government. We now expect this to be resolved during the budget negotiations, and we are placing our faith in the coalition partner parties," said Helene Harsvik Skeibrok, leader of Fagforbundet.

Fagforbundet believes the cuts could result in 2,000 to 3,000 postal workers losing their jobs on very short notice.

Transitional arrangement

The government reports that it plans to implement a transitional arrangement starting July 1, 2027.

The transitional arrangement includes the following:

• Letters will generally be delivered to mailboxes once a week.
• Senders needing more frequent delivery, such as banks and healthcare services, can purchase it at a higher postage rate.
• Recipients who want more frequent delivery can collect letters at a pickup point five days a week.