In the fourth quarter of 2022 Eesti Pank issued 6.05 million banknotes into circulation with a total value of 202 million euros. The banknote issued most commonly was the 50-euro note, which accounted for 50% of the banknotes issued. The amount of cash issued was just a little less than in the previous quarter but essentially about the same.

There were 4.98 million banknotes with a total value of 166 million euros returned to Eesti Pank in the fourth quarter. The banknote returned most commonly was the 50-euro note, which accounted for 40% of all the banknotes returned. The sorting process saw the destruction of 0.8 million banknotes that were unfit for circulation, and the rest were returned to circulation.

The number of banknotes issued and returned in 2022 was about the same as in the previous year (see chart).

Eesti Pank issued 6.4 million coins with a total value of 2.6 million euros into circulation in the fourth quarter of the year. The coins issued most were one and two-cent coins, which made up 48% of all the coins issued. People receive these coins as change from shops, but rarely spend them themselves.

Some 2.5 million euros of coins were returned to Eesti Pank by the commercial banks in the fourth quarter. The number of coins issued and returned in 2022 was about the same as in the previous year (see chart).

Coins can be paid into bank accounts using coin machines at 10 locations across Estonia.

A survey of payment behaviour in the euro area in 2022 found that cash remains the most common means of payment in Estonia. Cash and bankcards are used about equally in Estonian points of sale at 46% of payment transactions each. Cash is preferred for transactions between individual people in 50% of cases, and is followed by mobile payments and other means of payment at 25% of transactions each.

Cash was withdrawn from ATMs on 6.1 million occasions in the fourth quarter, for a total value of more than 997 million euros. The number of withdrawals from ATMs was the same as a year earlier. Cash deposits of 541.2 million euros were made in the fourth quarter, which was at the same level as a year earlier.

There are currently 669 ATMs in Estonia, of which 250 accept cash depositing. Alongside the ATMs, cash transactions can also be made in 25 bank offices. There are some 700 places across Estonia from which cooperation between the banks and points of sale allows cash to be withdrawn. See also Where else can I withdraw cash?

Access to cash was shown by the survey of payment behaviour to be very good throughout the euro area and Estonia in 2022. Cash was considered easy to access by 89% of the respondents in the euro area, and by as much as 94% in Estonia.

Exchanging Estonian kroons for cash

Eesti Pank continues to exchange Estonian kroons in notes and coins for euros. There were 174 exchange transactions with kroons at Eesti Pank in the fourth quarter of 2022 at a value of 34,670 euros. There are still an estimated 28.4 million kroon banknotes, worth 37 million euros, and 319.7 million coins, worth 6.7 million euros, that have not been returned from circulation, making a total value of 43.7 million euros. Interest in exchanging kroons has been very low in recent years. A part of the cash in kroons has been permanently lost or destroyed over time.

Eesti Pank expert analysis of cash

Eesti Pank exchanges damaged euro banknotes and coins. Expert analysis of cash was carried out 42 times in the fourth quarter of 2022 as 670 banknotes were examined for authenticity and were classed as damaged notes. Banknotes are exchanged when more than half of them remains. Damaged banknotes are removed from circulation and are destroyed.

The Estonian Forensic Science Institute registered 316 counterfeit euro banknotes in Estonia in the fourth quarter, the majority of which were 20 and 50-euro notes. There were also 53 counterfeit coins discovered in the quarter.

• Estonian kroon banknotes and coins can be exchanged for euros at the shop of the Eesti Pank Museum during its opening hours from Tuesdays to Fridays 12.00-17.00 and Saturdays 11.00-16.00, tel 668 0650.
• Damaged banknotes can be submitted for expert analysis by contacting the Eesti Pank museum shop.

Additional information:
Evelin Jürisson
Communications Specialist
Eesti Pank
Tel: 6680 965

Press enquiries:
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