Europe: payment card number per country 2000-2020

The amount of issued payment cards in Europe as of 2020, varied extensively per country. The highest volume of card issuing was recorded in the United Kingdom, where over approximately 162.7 million payment cards were in use in 2019. Payment cards are an important part of the move towards a cashless society in the European Union.

Number of cards with a payment function, except cards with an e-money function only, issued by resident PSPs in 27 countries in Europe from 2000 to 2020 (in millions)

Characteristic	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020
Germany	109.4	111.2	111.4	107.9	106.5	106.8	108	123	122.9	126.1	127.8	130.1	133.2	133.9	135.4	139.2	142.7	144.4	147.4	152.9	158.8
Spain	45.8	50.6	53.6	57	61.7	65.1	70.1	75	76.4	74.5	71.6	69	68.8	69.7	68	70.3	74.9	79.6	84.1	86.4	89.8
France	36.9	39.7	41.9	44.4	46	78.8	77.1	82.4	85.5	87	84.9	83	82.3	82.2	81	77.7	78.9	79.9	81.8	84.5	87.1
Italy	37.2	43.4	48.4	53.8	56.5	59.6	63.9	67.6	69.2	68.2	70	67.4	68.2	71.8	73.6	77.2	76.4	77.5	82.4	84.3	86.7
Belgium	13.9	14	14.9	15.6	15.7	15.9	16.6	17.5	18.7	19.3	19.4	20	20.6	20	21.9	22.6	22.5	22.2	23.8	39.8	46
Poland	11.3	14.6	17.2	15.7	17.8	20.4	23.8	26.5	30.3	33.2	32	32	33.1	34.7	36.1	35.2	36.9	39.1	41.2	43	43.7
Netherlands	26	26.1	26.7	27.4	27.8	31.5	31.8	31.4	31	30.2	30.3	30.5	30.5	30.5	32	32.4	32	32.3	33	34.4	36.2
Portugal	12.2	13.7	15	15.1	16.7	16.9	18.3	19	20.6	20.4	19.7	20.1	20.3	20.1	20.3	20.4	20.6	21.2	21.7	20.4	21.9
Romania	1.1	2.1	3.5	4.6	5.8	7.3	9.2	11.7	13.5	13	12.8	13.3	13.7	14.1	14.4	14.9	15.9	16.4	17.4	18.2	18.7
Sweden	8.4	8.2	10.4	10.7	12.4	12.4	13.4	18	19.7	20.2	20	21.1	21.3	22	22.1	21.7	21	20.3	19.4	18.7	18.1
Greece	6.6	9	10.7	11.4	11.1	12	13.1	14.4	15.1	15.3	14.2	13.8	13.4	13.9	12.5	13.6	14.7	15.8	15.8	16.4	16.8
Austria	7.2	9.1	9.4	9.4	8.8	8.9	9.3	9.6	10	10.4	10.8	11	11.4	11.8	12.2	12.4	13.3	13.2	13.6	13.8	15.3
Lithuania	0.4	0.7	1.5	2.2	2.5	2.9	3.5	3.8	4.2	4.3	4.3	3.9	3.6	3.6	3.5	3.5	3.4	3.3	3.2	3.2	13.8
Czechia	4	4.6	5.8	6.3	6.6	7.4	8.2	9	9.6	9.4	9.6	9.8	10.2	10.4	11	11.8	11.9	12.1	12.4	13	13.7
Finland	2.9	3.2	3.3	3.3	3.4	3.5	3.7	3.9	6.8	7.1	7.3	7.8	7.9	7.8	9	9.4	9.6	9.8	10.1	9.9	10.3
Hungary	4.4	5	5.7	6.2	6.5	7.4	8.2	8.6	8.9	8.7	8.9	8.9	8.9	8.9	8.9	9	9	9.1	9.4	9.4	9.9
Denmark	3.5	3.7	3.8	4	4.4	4.8	5.2	5.4	6.2	7.5	8	8.1	8.3	8.4	8.9	9.8	8.8	9	9.3	9.5	9.5
Croatia	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	8.7	8.5	8.6	8.7	8.7	8.4	9.1	8.6
Ireland	2.2	2.6	2.9	3.1	3.3	3.3	3.8	4.8	5.3	5.4	5.6	5.9	6	6.2	6.2	6.5	7.1	7	7.4	7.7	8
Bulgaria	0	1	1.6	2.4	3.5	4.7	6	7.2	8.1	7.7	7.6	8	8.3	7.7	7.2	7.2	7.5	7.5	7.4	7.5	7.4
Slovakia	1.7	2	2.4	3	3.6	3.9	4.3	4.8	5.2	5.1	5.2	5.3	4.6	4.8	5.3	5.5	5.6	5.3	5.5	5.6	5.8
Slovenia	1.9	2.1	2.3	3.1	3	3	3.1	3.2	3.4	3.4	3.5	3.3	3.3	3.3	3.2	3.4	3.3	3.4	3.5	3.6	3.5
Luxembourg	0.6	0.7	0.7	0.8	0.7	0.8	1	0.9	0.9	1	1.3	1.7	2	2	2.1	2.2	2.3	2.6	2.8	3.1	3.2
Latvia	0.5	0.7	0.9	1.1	1.3	1.7	2	2.4	2.5	2.5	2.4	2.3	2.4	2.4	2.3	2.4	2.4	2.3	2.2	2.2	2.2
Estonia	0.9	1	1.1	1.2	1.3	1.4	1.6	1.8	1.8	1.8	1.8	1.8	1.8	1.8	1.8	1.8	1.8	1.9	1.9	1.9	1.9
Cyprus	0.4	0.5	0.6	0.6	0.7	0.7	0.9	1.1	1.1	1.2	1.4	1.3	1.3	1.1	1	1.1	1.1	1.2	1.2	1.2	1.3
Malta	0.3	0.3	0.4	0.4	0.4	0.5	0.5	0.6	0.6	0.6	0.7	0.7	0.8	0.8	0.8	0.9	0.9	-	-	-	-