Time series start from January 2002. Stock data refer to the amount outstanding at the end of the reporting period. Flows data refer to the cumulated amount between the first and the last day of the reporting period.

Background

Differences between “banknotes and coins statistics” and “monetary statistics’’

A difference can be seen below between the figures for the "net circulation of banknotes and coins" under "banknotes and coins statistics" and those for "currency in circulation" on the aggregated balance sheet of the monetary and financial institutions (MFI) sector.

The difference, which amounts to approximately 0.2% in terms of the total issuance, is largely due to the different ways collector coins are treated in participating Member States. In addition, differences can be seen in the data for the year 2002 and for the months after each euro area enlargement. Here, discrepancies between the two sets of figures are largely due to legacy currencies being included in the category “currency in circulation”.

Euro collector coins are by definition not intended for circulation and only have legal tender status in the country of issue. Therefore, they are excluded from the banknotes statistics figures for "net circulation of banknotes and coins" but are included, at least by some participating Member States, in the monetary statistics figures for “currency in circulation”. In banknotes and coins statistics, information on euro collector coins is contained in a separate series called “collector coins issued net of collector coins returned”.