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Rs 500 Notes Most Circulated, Rs 20 Gaining Popularity: RBI Annual Report

Among the notes in circulation, Rs 500 notes are the most voluminous followed by Rs 10 notes.

<div class="paragraphs"><p>Indian Rs 500  notes. (Source: BQ Prime)</p></div>
Indian Rs 500 notes. (Source: BQ Prime)

The overall volume of currency in circulation rose 4.4% year-on-year to 13,621 crore notes in the financial year 2023, according to the Reserve Bank of India.

Among the notes in circulation, Rs 500 notes are the most voluminous, with a total of 5,163 crore notes in circulation as of FY23, followed by Rs 10 and Rs 100, with 2,621 crore and 1,805 crore notes in circulation, respectively, according to central bank's annual report.

By value, however, Rs 500 notes account for the largest chunk of the total value of currency in circulation, with a share of 77% out of the overall Rs 33.48 lakh crore.

"In value terms, the share of Rs 500 and Rs 2,000 banknotes together accounted for 87.9% of the total value of banknotes in circulation as of March 31," the RBI's report noted.

While a majority of denominations saw a dip in their overall volume in circulation between FY22 and FY23, Rs 500, Rs 200, and Rs 20 notes registered an uptick. The volume of Rs 20 banknotes in circulation grew from 1,101 crore in FY22 to 1,258 crore in FY23, denoting a year-on-year growth of 9.2%.

Similarly, the volume of Rs 200 notes grew by 4.6% year-on-year to 626 crore.

On an individual basis, Rs 500 notes made up the highest share by volume of banknotes in circulation, accounting for 37.9% of the total volume. They were trailed by Rs 10 banknotes, which accounted for 19.2% of the total banknotes in circulation as of March 31, 2023.

On the other hand, Rs 2000 notes have been steadily falling out of circulation, with their overall share in volume falling to 1.3% in FY23, down from 1.6% in 2022.

Earlier in May, the RBI announced that it had decided to withdraw the Rs 2000 notes from circulation. The central bank had said that those holding them could get the notes exchanged for currency of other denominations or deposit them into their bank accounts.

RBI had also launched pilots for India's central bank digital currency in late 2022, i.e., for both the retail and wholesale versions of the digital currency. The value of e-Rupee wholesale and retail in circulation stood at Rs 10.69 crore and Rs 5.70 crore, respectively, as of March 31, the RBI's annual report noted.