The amount of damaged currency that had to be discarded is down by 37 percent on-year due to the increased use of non-cash payments.

The Bank of Korea(BOK) said Friday that over 403 million paper currency and coins were disposed of last year due to wear-and-tear, down 37-point-two percent from 642 million recorded in 2020.

Some 344 million paper bills, with a face value of two trillion won, were destroyed last year, more than 43 percent fewer than 2020. One-thousand and ten-thousand won notes accounted for more than 90 percent.

Meanwhile, over 59 million coins were discarded last year, up 74 percent on-year. The central bank explained that a larger amount of coins were retrieved due to their decreasing demand. 

The decline in discarded bills is attributed to the growing use of non-cash payments such as credit cards and mobile payment during the protracted pandemic.