Consumers: Despite love of cash: Germany catching up with digital payments
Cash plays a traditionally big role in Germany, but consumers are paying electronically or by card more and more often, a new study shows. Other countries, however, are far ahead.
Germany lags behind in digital payments compared to other countries, but is catching up, according to a study by the Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In 2025, Germans made an average of 300 electronic payments per person, which is less than the EU average of 400 and significantly lower than the 700 in Norway, Denmark, Sweden, and Finland.
However, the number of electronic payments per person in Germany is growing at a rate of 10%, outpacing the EU average of 8%. The study also found that card payments in Germany increased by 11.3% in 2025, with an average of 196 card transactions per person.
Written by urgent.news from Handelsblatt's report — not a translation of it. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
