This is evidenced by the rating compiled by the Swedish portal forex.se. According to this indicator, economists determine the level of development of the country’s economy.
The poorest countries rely more on cash: Myanmar (98%), Ethiopia (95%) and Gambia (95%) top the list, reflecting limited banking infrastructure.
Rich countries have all but abandoned cash: Sweden (14%), Norway (10%) and South Korea (10%) show how digital payments infrastructure correlates with economic development.
Developing economies such as Moldova (80%), India (70%) and Thailand (65%) show that cash use can be quite sustainable.
At the level of Moldova, also with a cash utilization rate of 80%, are countries such as Egypt, Fiji, Gabon, Jamaica, Jordan, Mexico and Sri Lanka.
Ukraine ranks 38th in this ranking with a cash share of 70%. Romania is in 109th position (20%), ahead of many much more developed countries in Europe and the world. It is on a par with such states as Andorra, Bahrain, Brunei, United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong, Monaco, Netherlands, Singapore.
South Korea, Norway, China, Iceland, Iceland and Australia occupy the lower ranks in the ranking with an indicator of 10%.
Commenting on these indicators, the compilers of the top write in the section “Surprising exceptions”: Japan with a score of 60% is an astonishingly high result for such a technologically advanced country – the cultural preference for cash persists despite its advanced infrastructure.
Germany at 51% is an anomaly among wealthy European countries, likely due to cultural concerns about privacy.
Italy with a score of 62% stands out in Western Europe, perhaps due to the prevalence of the informal economy.
China with a score of just 10% is striking, reflecting its rapid shift to mobile payments (Alipay/WeChat Pay), completely bypassing traditional card infrastructure.
