Share of polymer banknotes continues to rise
Shift into polymer comes at the expense of varnished cotton
The share of polymer banknotes has nearly doubled within three years, the Currency Benchmarks 2026 reveal: close to a third (31.8%) of banknotes are now printed on the synthetic substrate, compared with 16.1% in the 2023 benchmark.
This has come at the expense of cotton- and textile-based notes – also referred to as paper notes. While paper substrates still make up a comfortable majority of all banknotes (62%), their share has been falling steadily, having stood at 68% in 2024, the last survey
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