Amounts outstanding of notes and coin in circulation in the UK 2017-2019

As of December 2019, the value of outstanding notes and coins in circulation in the United Kingdom reached approximately 82.65 billion British pounds. This was an increase of over 1.4 billion British pounds as compared to January 2017. When broken down by denomination, the twenty-pound note accounted for the highest share of notes in circulation. Twenty-pound notes also had the highest volume of banknotes in circulation in 2019.

Currency fraud

One issue with having a physical currency is that some will try to take advantage by producing counterfeit notes and coins. In 2018, approximately 472 thousand counterfeit banknotes were removed from circulation. These counterfeit notes had a face value of approximately 10.2 million British pounds.

Damaged banknotes

Another downside to the use of physical cash is that is can become damaged and therefore unusable for as a means for payment. In 2018, there were around 20.4 thousand applications for reimbursement for damaged or destroyed banknotes in the UK. The main reason for claiming against damaged or destroyed banknotes was due to tearing.