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Does Anyone Still Fax in 2026?
Which countries still use fax – and why?
In 2026, Japan’s ministries process millions of documents by fax daily, Germany’s federal government still operates 1,400 fax machines, and South Korea’s National Assembly takes bomb threats by fax – because email leaves no paper original to forensically trust. These aren’t holdouts who missed the memo. They’re some of the most tech-fluent governments on earth, and each has decided fax still solves a problem nothing else does. This page is the country-by-country tour: where fax persists, and the surprisingly specific reasons it does.
Latest country reports
Fresh dispatches on where fax is still the default channel
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Still Faxed Up: Australia’s Healthcare Communication Conundrum
Australia’s medical system humorously clings to fax machines: an outdated practice in an age of digital communication.
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Frankfurt city hall finds fax finish line farther than forecast, pushes to 2025
Frankfurt delays fax phase-out to 2025, highlighting the quirky persistence of this old-school tech in modern communication.
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Hanko panko: Japanese schools struggle to stamp out seals and faxes before 2026 deadline
Despite Japan’s digital upgrade efforts, 77% of schools still buzz with the sound of fax machines, showcasing an amusing blend of modern needs and old-tech comforts.
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“Boston’s great fax fiasco: 183 immigration requests lost in transmission”
Despite digital advances, a humorous look at how BPD and ICE’s reliance on fax has led to major discrepancies in communication.
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Suspicious Sunday fax sends Seoul sleuths searching for explosives
A bomb threat to South Korea’s National Assembly was oddly faxed from Japan, showcasing a quirky reliance on old tech in critical times.
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Northern Rail’s fax fixation leaves Manchester mayor fuming
In an era where instant digital messaging dominates, Northern Rail’s enduring use of fax machines sparks bemusement and a nod to the challenges of tech modernization.
Where fax still rules – country by country
Six countries, six different reasons fax refuses to die. Pick one.
Japan
Japan retired the floppy disk before it retired the fax. When the Digital Agency tried to do both, ministry workflows pushed back. Hospitals, banks and city halls still send by fax – not because Japan can’t do email, but because the signed, paper-trail original is the document that legally matters. Read the ministry pushback story →
Germany
Germany’s federal ministries still operate 1,400 fax machines in 2026, even after a decade of digital-first rhetoric. The legal status of a faxed signature, GDPR risk on every alternative, and a procurement culture allergic to new vendors all keep the dial tone alive in the Bundestag basement. See the Bund’s 1,400-machine count →
South Korea
South Korea’s National Assembly takes its bomb threats by fax. It’s not nostalgia – for adversarial communications, a fax leaves a tamper-resistant paper original that email can’t. The same logic keeps fax inside Korean ministries, courts and hospitals long after the rest of the office stack went cloud-native. The Seoul Sunday bomb-thread story →
United Kingdom
The UK was supposed to be done. The NHS banned new fax purchases in 2018, ministers set a sunset, and then Northern Rail was caught faxing into 2024 anyway. Deadlines keep slipping because the receiving end – a magistrate, a referring doctor, a council legal team – hasn’t moved. Why Britain’s fax farewell keeps being deferred →
Croatia
In 2022 a Croatian minister proudly described fax as the country’s cutting-edge inter-ministry channel – and meant it. Smaller EU states often run the same calculus: fewer compliance moving parts, fewer migration projects, and a piece of paper everyone in the building already knows how to file. “Cutting-edge” in Zagreb, explained →
Australia
Australia’s hospitals still fax referrals because the alternative – pulling every clinic, pharmacy and aged-care home onto a single secure messaging standard – is the harder problem. Until the receiving end goes digital, the sender keeps a fax line plugged in next to the printer. Inside the Australian healthcare fax conundrum →
Need to send a fax to one of these countries?
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Got a fax to send to one of these countries?
The reasons Japan, Germany and Korea kept their fax lines are the same reasons your fax will land. No machine, no subscription. Just send it.
