Cash was the most used payment instrument at the euro area country level with the highest proportions in Malta (88%), Spain and Cyprus (83% each), according to a European Central Bank study.
The study, which was conducted in 17 euro area countries also showed that, in contrast, in Finland and the Netherlands respectively only 35% and 34% of the payments were made in cash.
In these countries, debit cards were the most used payment instrument.
As for the proportion of cash in relation to the total value of point of sale payments varied considerably across countries, with Cyprus and Malta being the highest with from 73%.
Spain followed with 66% in Spain, going down to 33% in Belgium, 27% in Finland, 25% in France, 24% in Luxembourg and 22% in the Netherlands.
In 15 of the countries in the study this was carried out in three waves from mid-March to mid-December 2019.
In Cyprus and Malta, interviews were conducted from March to June 2019, as these were the only countries where the interviews were conducted face to face.
