3.8 Trillion Won in Discarded Damaged Currency, 253 Times Taller Than Lotte Tower

A Total of 3.8803 Trillion Won... 17.2% Increase Compared to the Previous Year

Banknotes damaged by moisture (Photo by Bank of Korea)

Last year, the amount of damaged currency discarded domestically was found to be equivalent to 16 times the height of Mount Everest when stacked.

The Bank of Korea announced on the 24th that the damaged currency discarded in South Korea in 2023 amounted to 483.85 million notes, totaling 3.8803 trillion won.

This represents a 17.2% increase compared to the previous year's 412.68 million notes (2.6414 trillion won).

It is interpreted that the increase in damaged currency collection is due to the rise in face-to-face transactions after the COVID-19 pandemic subsided. The increase in damaged notes is also attributed to the expiration of circulation life of the widely circulated 50,000 won bills and the rise in market interest rates, which contributed to the increase in the amount collected.

Last year, the amount of banknotes discarded was 427.32 million notes (3.8724 trillion won). By denomination, it was 10,000 won notes (237.75 million notes, 55.6% of the total), 1,000 won notes (143.69 million notes, 33.6%), 50,000 won notes (24.93 million notes, 5.8%), and 5,000 won notes (20.95 million notes, 4.9%) in order.

The amount of coins discarded was 56.53 million coins (7.9 billion won), with denominations of 100 won coins (33.91 million coins, 60.0% of the total), 10 won coins (9.8 million coins, 17.3%), 500 won coins (8.37 million coins, 14.8%), and 50 won coins (4.44 million coins, 7.9%) in order.

If the discarded notes were laid end to end, the total length would be 62,872 km, which is about 76 round trips on the Gyeongbu Expressway (415 km).

If stacked, the total height would be 141,059 meters, which is 16 times the height of Mount Everest (8,849 m) and 253 times the height of Lotte World Tower (555 m).

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.