Number of paper Bank of England £20 and £50 banknotes returned or still in circulation as at 30 September 2022

Freedom of Information rules mean that, as a public authority, the Bank of England is obliged to disclose certain types of information, both proactively and on request.
Date: 15 November 2022

Disclosure:

The table below provides the number of Bank of England (the ‘Bank’) paper £20 and £50 banknotes which have been returned and are still in circulation as at 30 September 2022: 

 

Number of banknotes returned since polymer note issued* (millions) 

Number of banknotes still in circulation (millions) 

Value of returned banknotes since polymer issued* (£millions) 

Value of banknotes still in circulation (£millions) 

£20 paper banknotes 

1,601 

242 

32,016 

4,843 

£50 paper banknotes  

241 

106 

12,050 

5,279 

Total  

1,842 

348 

44,066  

10,122 

*The £20 polymer banknote was issued on 20 February 2020. The £50 polymer banknote was issued on 23 June 2021.

The number of Bank of England £20 and £50 paper banknotes returned reflected in the table is broadly in-line with the Bank’s expectations.  

All genuine Bank of England banknotes that have been withdrawn from circulation retain their face value for all time. There is no expiry on the period in which we will exchange old banknotes. Details on how to exchange banknotes