The COVID-19 pandemic significantly affected cash demand in Australia. Demand for banknotes was extraordinarily high over 2020, despite a sharp decline in the use of cash in day-to-day transactions. The pandemic has accelerated trends in banknote demand that had already been occurring for many years. Namely, the use of physical currency as a means of payment has continued to decline, while demand for cash as a store of wealth has grown (Caddy, Delaney and Fisher 2020; Finlay, Staib and Wakefield 2019). This article explores how banknote issuance evolved during the pandemic so far, what factors drove the increase in ... (full story)