Share of cash according to payment diary studies held in 27 countries worldwide 2023

Cash usage by country varied significantly — even within Europe — according to various payment diary studies held all over the world. The numbers provided here all stem from domestically held payment diary surveys, where consumers had to record how often and by how much they used certain payment methods. In the Euro area, for instance, Malta led the group of countries in proportion of cash to non-cash transactions in 2021, with 77 percent of all transactions carried out in cash. Other Mediterranean countries also saw high cash transaction rates. This contrasted with Canada and the United States, where their surveys suggested a far lower market share of cash.

Cash usage is a relatively new field of Payments research

Tracking the use of paper money or coins for most countries only began in the mid to late 2010s, and was especially adopted following the coronavirus pandemic. Central banks increasingly wanted to map out whether cash was declining in favor of digital payment methods, but no official means of tracking cash use was available. As this is based on domestically held surveys, data availability and data frequency varies significantly. This overview tries to collect all research done so far. It should be noted that all surveys are conducted separately from one another, so they might not be comparable. Another less reliable, but more easily available way to calculate the share of cash in a country is currency in circulation or CIC. This is a comparatively easy figure to research and calculate, but experts question its reliability.

Digital payments expected to keep on growing

Cashless payments are forecast to double between 2022 and 2027. Over 1.1 trillion non-cash transactions were carried out in the world, with the highest number being recorded in Asia-Pacific. The number of cashless payments in Asia-Pacific is forecast to be higher than transactions in Europe and North America combined. A significant growth in Latin America — consisting of Brazil, Peru, and Colombia in this particular ranking — is also expected, as they continue to implement real-time payments across the region.