Cash won't be going the way of the dinosaur anytime soon, according to a new study by the ATM Industry Association.
Using data from annual reports and financial statements of central banks in 30 advanced and developing countries, the study found an average 8.9% year-over-year growth in currency in circulation from 2009 to 2013. Currency circulation grew 7.5% in the United States during that period, according to the study. Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa all posted currency growth rates over 10%. Currency circulation grew 6% in the United Kingdom.
"The takeaway numbers from the study are 8.9% global growth in cash in circulation, compared to 4.5% in the Eurosystem and 11% in the BRICS nations, which have 40% of the world's population and produce 20% of gross world product," ATMIA CEO Mike Lee said. "These results for cash demand are truly astonishing in our times of sluggish economic growth."
"Since the World Bank believes international economic growth will reach 3% this year and average at around 3.3% up to 2017, we can be very pleased that our industry's most important asset, the global supply of cash, is underpinned by exceptionally robust demand from the human populations of the world," he added. "Cash growth is currently outstripping economic growth by a wide margin."
The United States produces just under 25 million bank notes every day, the study said.
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