It has been two years since Central Banking’s last currency benchmark and there have been several notable changes in this time. The share of polymer banknotes has continued to increase, reaching 31.8% this year, up from 23.3% in 2024 and nearly double the level in 2023. This trend is reflected in the changing use of security features on banknotes – clear windows are much more likely to appear on recently issued banknotes (true of 64.7% of series issued since 2021).

There are also clear divides