Among the bank notes in circulation, Rs 500 has the highest share as of FY23. They account for 77.1% of all notes in circulation by value and 37.9% by volume, data from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) showed.

In volume terms, there were 5,163 crore pieces of Rs 500 notes totalling Rs 25,81,690 crore at end-March 2023. 

As per value terms, Rs 500 notes enjoy a 77.1% share out of the overall Rs 33.48 lakh crore, according to RBI’s annual report released on Tuesday.

The share of Rs 500 and Rs 2,000 notes account for 87.9% of the total value of banknotes in circulation as of 31 March 2023.

With the RBI announcing the withdrawal of Rs 2,000 notes, the share of Rs 500 notes is set to rise further this year.

As per the report, there were 4,55,468 lakh pieces of Rs 2,000 notes amounting to Rs 3,62,220 crore at end-March.

In volume terms, the share of Rs 2,000 notes fell to 1.3% of total currency in circulation at end-March 2023 compared with 1.6% in the year-ago period.

In value terms, it declined to 10.8% from 13.8% at end-March 2022.

While Rs 500 notes made up the highest share by volume of banknotes in circulation, they were followed by Rs 10 banknotes, which accounted for 19.2% (2,621 crore) of the total banknotes in circulation as of 31 March 2023. The Rs 100 notes had 1,805 crore notes in circulation, according to the report.

The value and volume of banknotes in circulation increased 7.8% and 4.4%, respectively, during 2022-23 compared with 9.9% and 5%, respectively, in 2021-22.

The RBI disposed of 4,824 lakh pieces of soiled Rs 2,000 notes in the last fiscal.