07.02.2025
Eesti Pank issued 268 million euros of cash in the fourth quarter of last year

Kristjan Lember
cash analyst
Postitatud:
04.02.2025
Eesti Pank issued 7.8 million banknotes into circulation in the fourth quarter of 2024 with a total value of 266 million euros, and 3.2 million coins with a total value of 1.5 million euros.
Just over half of the banknotes issued were 50-euro notes, and 6% more banknotes were issued than in the same quarter of 2023. The most common coin was the one-cent coin, which was 21% of the coins issued into circulation. The number of coins issued was 28% smaller than in the same quarter of the previous year.
There were 6.8 million banknotes with a total value of 230 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 total number of banknotes returned was 7% higher than in the fourth quarter of 2023. The sorting process saw the destruction of 1.8 million banknotes that were unfit for circulation, and the rest were returned to circulation.
The commercial banks returned 6.5 million circulation coins with a total value of 1.5 million euros to Eesti Pank in the fourth quarter. The coins returned most were two-cent coins, which made up 25% of all the coins returned. There were 26% more circulation coins than in the fourth quarter of 2023.
The number of circulation coins issued and returned was affected very much in the fourth quarter by the coin collection campaign run jointly by Eesti Pank and Omniva. People exchanged 3.6 million circulation coins in two Omniva post offices in 2024. The coin exchange service has helped make the circulation of coins more efficient and reduced the need to produce new coins.
See also the figure on the Eesti Pank website about coins issued and returned.
Cash was withdrawn from ATMs on 5.5 million occasions in the fourth quarter of 2024, for a total value of 934 million euros. There were about 5% fewer withdrawals of cash than in the same period of the previous year. Cash deposits of 520 million euros were made in the fourth quarter, which was 4% less than a year previously.
There were 662 ATMs in Estonia at the end of 2024, of which 222 accept cash depositing. Alongside the ATMs, cash transactions can also be made in 21 bank offices.
There are some 700 shop tills across Estonia from which cooperation between the banks and points of sale allows cash to be withdrawn.
Coins can be paid into bank accounts using coin machines at banks at ten locations across Estonia. Coins can also be exchanged until the end of February in the Tallinn Rocca al Mare and Tartu Eeden post offices operated by Omniva.
Exchanging Estonian kroons for cash
Eesti Pank continues to exchange Estonian kroons in notes and coins for euros. There were 191 exchange transactions with kroons in the fourth quarter of 2024 at a value of 45,703 euros. There are still an estimated 28.4 million kroon banknotes, worth 36.9 million euros, and 319.5 million coins, worth 6.7 million euros, that have not been returned from circulation, making a total value of 43.6 million euros. Interest in exchanging kroons for euros has been very low in recent years.
Eesti Pank expert analysis of cash
Eesti Pank exchanges damaged euro banknotes and coins. Expert analysis of cash was carried out 59 times in the fourth quarter as 563 banknotes were examined for authenticity and were classed as damaged notes where appropriate. 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 105 counterfeit euro banknotes in Estonia in the fourth quarter, the majority of which were 20 and 50-euro notes. All businesses, and indeed all people, that use cash should be careful and attentive with all banknotes. It is also wise to be careful when paying in cash while travelling. There were also 46 counterfeit coins discovered in the fourth 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.
- Damaged banknotes can be submitted for expert analysis by contacting a bank or the Eesti Pank museum shop.
From 1 January, a rounding rule has applied for payments in cash in shops in Estonia. The rounding rule started to apply in Estonia from the start of 2025, and it means that the final price of a basket of shopping paid for in cash is rounded to the nearest five cents. The price is only rounded if the buyer is paying in cash. The rule means that shops will no longer need to give out one and two-cent coins as change from 2025. Read more about the rounding rule on the Eesti Pank website.
Hanna Jürgenson
Communications Specialist
Eesti Pank
Tel: 5692 0930
Press enquiries: [email protected]