Post offices closing in France

Eleven mail routes have disappeared in Tarbes since mid-September, and in the Landes region, residents are waiting up to three weeks for their mail. Elected officials are warning about the closure of hundreds of post offices, citing declining mail volumes and the impact on public services.

Postal workers describe worsening conditions

In Tarbes, the Bastillac distribution platform has reduced its routes from about fifty to forty since September 15. Cyril Caperet, a regional secretary of the CGT FAPT union, said the postal workers are in such poor condition he has never seen it in his 15 years as a trade union militant. In Dax, a reorganization started in late September led to four out of fifty routes not being covered by mid-October due to a lack of replacements.

Mail volume decline and its causes

La Poste's regional management cites an 18% decrease in mail volumes since 2024 and the need to adjust resources to current activity levels. A report by deputies Jacques Oberti and Jean-René Cazeneuve shows that mail volume has dropped from 17 billion letters in 2005 to about 5 billion in 2025, with projections of 3 billion by 2030. While the decline is undeniable, it was not always a choice made by recipients.

Costs and the impact on postal services

The postal network operates with largely fixed costs, meaning a route costs almost the same whether it serves thirty or three letterboxes. Each fewer piece of mail increases the cost of the remaining pieces, according to the report. This has led to extended routes, eliminated routes, unreplaced departures, and rising prices. The Green Letter will increase from 1.52 euros to 1.67 euros as of January 1, 2027.

Parliamentarians raise concerns

On October 8, communist senator Fabien Gay questioned the government about a plan that could lead to the closure of 471 post offices by the end of 2027, noting that post offices are often the only public services in many areas. Socialist senator Jérôme Darras criticized the planned closure of 17 offices in the North and 15 in Pas-de-Calais, stating that the disappearance of a public service cannot be justified by financial profitability.

Future plans for postal services

The Oberti-Cazeneuve report suggests a shift to a four-day mail delivery starting in 2028 and eliminating the requirement for 17,000 contact points. These options are not yet finalized but indicate the direction of future postal service changes.

Importance of postal services beyond delivery

The current law mandates a six-day-a-week mail delivery across the territory, ensuring 90% of the population in each department is within five kilometers and twenty minutes by car of a contact point. No digital service offers such a guarantee. Mail requires no subscription, equipment, or password—only an address.

The human aspect of postal delivery

The 65,000 postal workers serve 39 million letterboxes and take an oath to respect the integrity of the mail and the secrecy of correspondence. They are often the only public service employees to pass through villages without a school or doctor, representing the most concrete form of a Republic present everywhere.

Physical delivery as a security measure

On December 22, 2025, an unprecedented cyberattack made La Poste's online services inaccessible. The next day, postal workers continued their rounds, and distribution proceeded normally. A physical delivery channel, independent of information systems, is not outdated but a capacity for continuity.

The choice of delivery channels

The issue is not about defending paper against digital, but about who makes the choice. If the delivery channel is fixed by default, a network that will be lost without debate is disappearing. The savings are counted in millions, but the cost of a territory feeling abandoned is not included in any budget. Returning the choice to the recipient and funding the obligations imposed on the postal service is the condition for the postman to pass again tomorrow.