Germany had the highest amount of payment transaction involving non-MFIs of all countries in the EU-27 in 2020. Europe's largest economy was closely followed by France and Poland that year. The non-MFI sector comprises general government including central government,other financial intermediaries and financial auxiliaries, insurance corporations and pension funds, non-financial corporations, households and non-profit institutions serving households.
The dawn of cashless payments
The practice of paying without cash has its roots in the United States and was first used in the 1940s as a means of paying for automobile fuel. As the number of motorists in the country that would soon become the world’s dominant economy began to rise, a way was sought to make the process of re-fueling more convenient. This was the dawn of the cashless payment. The process is so popular now, that in 2018 more than 111 billion cashless transactions took place in the EU member states.
Cashless payment transactions
It took a while before the practice was to be adopted in other parts of the world. Initial adoption rates of one form of cashless payment, the credit card, were high in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom but elsewhere the acceptance levels were relatively slow. It took until the mid 1990s for the credit card payments to be more widely accepted, but despite this, usage rates around the world vary vastly. Some countries are very cash oriented and despite Germany’s position as the country with the third highest number of cashless payment transactions in Europe, the country is generally considered to be primarily cash-reliant. Cultural aspects might have a role to play into that: debt and financial insecurity is identified as a highly negative value in the culture. The fear of ‘Schuld’, which translates as well into ‘guilt’ and ‘blame’ as it does into ‘debt’, stands as one of the possible reasons to explain as to why it is more common to pay with cash in Germany.
Number of total payment transactions involving non-MFIs per country in Europe from 2000 to 2020
Characteristic
Germany
France
Poland
Spain
Netherlands
Italy
Sweden
Belgium
Luxembourg
Denmark
Finland
Czechia
Portugal
Austria
Ireland
Greece
Hungary
Romania
Slovakia
Lithuania
Croatia
Bulgaria
Latvia
Estonia
Slovenia
Cyprus
Malta
2000
12,209.05
11,979.94
490.42
1,713.19
2,894.37
2,063.55
1,212.9
1,390.74
0
823.99
863.81
564.3
982.86
887.58
292.96
78.25
188.86
52.84
0
26.46
0
19.31
58.91
49.1
0
37.46
13.41
2001
12,520.97
12,365.64
606.93
1,676.43
3,140.89
3,017.61
1,266.5
1,542.61
43.52
869.98
915.74
920.1
1,072.08
955.24
292
79.03
209.89
65.38
0
39.89
0
24.49
64.96
67.38
0
41.8
14.47
2002
12,156.76
13,347.32
632.03
2,810.13
3,408.81
3,129.44
1,147.7
1,703.85
50.59
928.29
1,032.61
754.3
1,154.19
1,012.99
284.09
85.05
224.76
81.33
0
54.89
0
26.27
75.77
86.22
0
46.51
16.8
2003
13,432.1
13,691.77
781.52
3,348.58
3,582.46
3,232.75
1,432.77
1,668.72
53.34
1,004.03
1,152.63
669.1
1,253.37
1,746.3
294.6
110.63
250.34
113.72
155.54
67.73
0
32.76
89.57
106.59
0
49.32
21.1
2004
14,612.48
14,070.96
935.98
4,531.17
3,738.39
3,423.36
1,669
1,797.12
56.54
1,087.62
1,222.33
775.78
1,303.15
1,770.25
313.1
124.38
302.34
166.06
172
86.85
0
42.43
107.55
134.52
286.49
57.89
21.11
2005
15,892.59
14,224.04
1,027.63
4,707.88
3,961.26
3,517.05
1,785
1,892.07
59.91
1,117.32
1,370.12
0
1,357.43
1,896.79
505.39
137.74
648.52
201.1
209.9
108.9
0
60.51
131.65
165.65
295.69
63.87
21.87
2006
17,212.33
14,936.31
1,233.8
4,709.59
4,287.09
3,605.98
2,056
1,978.95
105.96
1,232.75
1,544.6
0
1,402.11
1,909.33
574.83
146.29
798.54
233.61
262.79
148.55
0
74.92
168.21
200.92
319.23
68.92
23.75
2007
15,591.78
15,459.67
1,476.05
5,125.32
4,533.04
3,760.26
2,317.51
2,099.71
120.66
1,331.81
1,695.6
0
1,481.55
2,052.75
628.96
161.04
782.57
328.5
399.6
177.18
0
61.88
198.72
236.48
323.8
76.86
26.39
2008
16,057.02
15,893.46
1,714.09
5,385.77
4,822.67
3,816.22
2,578.8
2,197.82
436.23
1,430.55
1,823.6
0
1,564.75
2,130.73
683.77
171.73
816.73
271.66
359.07
209.79
0
69.8
222.29
266.25
321.52
84.9
28.05
2009
16,578.01
16,422.32
2,041.4
5,557.34
5,090.73
3,957.44
2,740.8
2,289.54
543
1,429.35
1,756.5
0
1,628.92
2,191.81
673.06
181.14
841.78
286.75
414.5
213.53
0
67.43
217.21
271.36
322.13
85.81
29.32
2010
17,324.27
17,057.49
2,335.71
5,602.48
5,441.9
4,004.43
2,980.7
2,386.39
703.47
1,532.84
1,985.63
941.6
1,720.13
2,229.33
669.76
208.1
859.17
302.98
414.63
227.77
0
189.51
222.89
283.16
334.78
91.73
30.57
2011
17,738.73
17,538.26
2,674.51
5,611.56
5,604.45
4,159.58
3,102.7
2,502.64
927.84
1,640.28
2,183.36
979.75
1,791.74
2,318.42
682.75
221.29
852.36
320.6
452.64
275.62
0
214.01
238.58
313.59
339.75
93.7
31.83
2012
18,210.69
18,068.32
2,975.87
5,809.85
5,783.28
4,263.02
3,346.2
2,510.91
1,161.2
1,766.61
2,427.83
1,060.14
1,769.96
2,375.96
747.05
248.1
897.86
365.8
496.69
311.58
0
226.33
263.99
334.06
319.79
101.09
31.86
2013
19,589.73
18,086.1
3,314.45
5,908.91
6,351.88
4,487.12
3,604.1
2,701.8
1,415.09
1,899.74
2,451.69
1,095.69
1,803.36
2,410.25
767.52
253.19
911.07
378.92
596.29
340.09
502
256.58
297.74
338.82
314.55
91.86
38.89
2014
18,042.58
18,957.98
3,873.67
6,304.29
6,453.51
4,792.76
3,899.97
3,442.36
1,710.51
2,070.96
2,200.26
1,207.31
1,888.03
1,552.71
728.76
428.61
1,000.02
436.91
638.25
362.3
651.37
354.53
334.21
379.99
350.03
71.6
40.19
2015
19,798.59
20,208.01
4,883.71
6,204.58
6,795.86
5,288.12
4,204.54
3,193.77
2,036.48
2,096.9
2,299.69
1,367.99
2,041.52
1,554.51
1,010.19
616.25
1,073.38
510.96
720.72
426.14
564.83
411.57
362.49
402.12
376.05
86.44
44.73
2016
20,372.39
20,907.94
5,665.38
6,877.39
7,174.12
5,746.19
4,776.66
3,459.81
2,388.43
2,529.94
2,447.33
1,544.72
2,193.2
1,657.4
1,227.89
794.67
1,181.81
696
791.33
457.03
693.93
456.13
399.29
430.87
391.37
94.62
48.69
2017
21,417.82
21,964.32
6,511.7
7,837.86
7,800.2
6,035
5,008
3,773.78
2,849.51
2,761.32
2,588.32
1,735.65
2,352.15
1,787.79
1,416.39
1,067.29
1,329.56
723.53
887.74
505.52
736.59
500.62
455.79
466.16
409.56
102.11
55.97
2018
22,679.21
23,498.04
7,561.64
8,184.65
8,707.03
6,784
5,379.85
4,243.61
3,334.55
3,007.29
2,808.49
1,975.11
2,510.94
1,951.69
1,650.63
1,199.56
1,286.03
1,016.72
973.19
577.25
782.2
584.78
488.96
504.39
434.92
117.73
68.66
2019
24,207.94
24,915.07
8,872.58
9,265.34
9,420.52
7,529
5,601.47
4,626.82
3,662.83
3,230.39
3,014.4
2,158.37
2,499.38
2,120.19
1,909.94
1,357.31
1,476.37
1,251.81
1,072.11
663.22
848.68
616.95
538.54
548.56
467.89
133.07
79.99
2020
26,192.87
24,224.01
9,714.37
9,454.07
9,192.2
7,735.96
5,564.84
4,853.07
4,773.5
3,203.34
3,006.06
2,417.07
2,355.6
2,242.86
2,139.27
1,772.3
1,564.38
1,470.64
1,034.3
861.19
852.72
665.26
563.89
553.47
459.7
145.24
80.6
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Supplementary notes
The figures have been taken from several publications.
The graphic shown is interactive: Clicking on the country names, either adds or removes a country from the graphic;
Due to Brexit, the source from 2020 onwards removed all figures that cover the United Kingdom
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ECB. (July 23, 2021). Number of total payment transactions involving non-MFIs per country in Europe from 2000 to 2020 [Graph]. In Statista. Retrieved October 02, 2024, from https://www.statista.com/statistics/276233/eu-member-states-with-the-most-cashless-payment-transactions/
ECB. "Number of total payment transactions involving non-MFIs per country in Europe from 2000 to 2020." Chart. July 23, 2021. Statista. Accessed October 02, 2024. https://www.statista.com/statistics/276233/eu-member-states-with-the-most-cashless-payment-transactions/
ECB. (2021). Number of total payment transactions involving non-MFIs per country in Europe from 2000 to 2020. Statista. Statista Inc.. Accessed: October 02, 2024. https://www.statista.com/statistics/276233/eu-member-states-with-the-most-cashless-payment-transactions/
ECB. "Number of Total Payment Transactions Involving Non-mfis per Country in Europe from 2000 to 2020." Statista, Statista Inc., 23 Jul 2021, https://www.statista.com/statistics/276233/eu-member-states-with-the-most-cashless-payment-transactions/
ECB, Number of total payment transactions involving non-MFIs per country in Europe from 2000 to 2020 Statista, https://www.statista.com/statistics/276233/eu-member-states-with-the-most-cashless-payment-transactions/ (last visited October 02, 2024)
Number of total payment transactions involving non-MFIs per country in Europe from 2000 to 2020 [Graph], ECB, July 23, 2021. [Online]. Available: https://www.statista.com/statistics/276233/eu-member-states-with-the-most-cashless-payment-transactions/
