UK: share of cash 2000-2021

Use of cash money in the United Kingdom (UK) decreased significantly since 2016, especially during the coronavirus pandemic. This according to estimations based on the available data regarding cash withdrawals and payment transactions. No data exists on the actual use of cash money, outside of survey diaries. Such a diary, covering consumers' use of cash money in shops, was held in Europe only once, in 2017. As not all payment data is readily available, like the use of OTC or over-the-counter cash withdrawals, note this can still mean that the cash share numbers provided here are not necessarily accurate.

Share of cash estimate at point of sale (POS) in the United Kingdom (UK) from 2000 to 2021

Characteristic	Share of cash
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Release date

January 2023

More information

Region

United Kingdom

Survey time period

2000 to 2021

Special properties

The numbers provided have been calculated by Statista, using numbers on ATM and OTC withdrawals. See the "Details" tab for more information

Supplementary notes

No data is available that covers the exact volume of transactions conducted with cash money. In order to make a credible estimation, this calculation looked at the following indicators:

Value of ATM cash withdrawals (either with cards issued by resident PSPs at any terminal, provided by either a resident or non-resident PSP, or with cards issued by non-resident PSPs at terminals provided by resident PSPs;
Value of OTC or over-the-counter cash withdrawals;
Value of card payments, issued by resident PSPs;
Value of e-money payment transactions, issued by resident PSPs.

To summarize, this methodology tries to put cash withdrawals, either at an ATM or OTC, in perspective of all payment transactions (withdrawals + card payment+ e-money transactions) within a country. Numbers on checks, ACH or instant payments have not been used.

Note that numbers on OTC withdrawals and e-money are not always readily available for all years. Multiple sources were consulted to get to these numbers. In the case of the United Kingdom, no OTC numbers were found for 2017 and 2018. Additionally, there were no numbers on e-money.

The values used in the calculations for the United Kingdom were in pound sterling.

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