The most cashless countries in the world, ranked

Name: The Cashlessy Index 2026
Creator: Cashlessy
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

The Cashlessy Index 2026 is our annual ranking of all 197 countries and territories by how easily a traveller can get by without cash, plus what to do about cards, ATMs, apps and tipping in each one.

Norway and Sweden are the joint most cashless countries of 2026

They share first place with 95 out of 100.

NorwayOne of the most cashless countries in the world: cash was just 3% of payments in Norges Bank's latest survey.
SwedenOnly 5% of Swedes paid cash for their last shop purchase in 2025, and one in three small businesses no longer take cash at all.

Go cashless 26Mostly cashless 39Mixed 36Cash preferred 32Cash essential 64

Top 10

Regional leaders

Rankings by region: Europe · Asia · Middle East · Africa · Americas · Oceania

Practical guides

ATM fees for foreign cards, by countryWhich banks charge visitors to withdraw cash, and which do not, in the 80 places we have checked.
Payment apps tourists can useAlipay, WOWPASS, M-Pesa and the other apps a visitor can set up without a local bank account, in 16 countries and territories.
Paying for public transport by cardCity by city: where you can tap a bank card at the gates, and where you still need a travel card or cash, in 58 places.

The Cashlessy Index 2026: full ranking

Scored 0-100 on how easily a traveller can get by without cash. Last reviewed October 2026.

Methodology Download the data (CSV)

#	Country	Score	Cards	Cash
1	Norway	95	Accepted almost everywhere	Rarely needed
1	Sweden	95	Accepted almost everywhere	Rarely needed
3	Denmark	94	Accepted almost everywhere	Rarely needed
3	Iceland	94	Accepted almost everywhere	Rarely needed
5	Australia	92	Accepted almost everywhere	Rarely needed
5	Netherlands	92	Accepted almost everywhere	Rarely needed
5	United Kingdom	92	Accepted almost everywhere	Rarely needed
8	Estonia	91	Accepted almost everywhere	Rarely needed
8	Finland	91	Accepted almost everywhere	Rarely needed
10	Canada	90	Accepted almost everywhere	Rarely needed
10	Ireland	90	Accepted almost everywhere	Rarely needed
10	Luxembourg	90	Accepted almost everywhere	Rarely needed
10	New Zealand	90	Accepted almost everywhere	Rarely needed
10	Singapore	90	Accepted almost everywhere	Rarely needed
10	South Korea	90	Accepted almost everywhere	Rarely needed
16	China	88	Hotels and a few big businesses	Rarely needed
16	Monaco	88	Accepted almost everywhere	Rarely needed
16	United Arab Emirates	88	Accepted almost everywhere	Rarely needed
19	Latvia	87	Accepted almost everywhere	Rarely needed
19	Lithuania	87	Accepted almost everywhere	Rarely needed
21	Belgium	86	Accepted almost everywhere	Rarely needed
21	Israel	86	Accepted almost everywhere	Rarely needed
21	Qatar	86	Accepted almost everywhere	Rarely needed
21	United States	86	Accepted almost everywhere	Rarely needed
25	Czechia	85	Accepted almost everywhere	Rarely needed
25	France	85	Accepted almost everywhere	Rarely needed
27	Hong Kong	84	Widely accepted	Carry a little
27	Liechtenstein	84	Accepted almost everywhere	Rarely needed
27	Poland	84	Accepted almost everywhere	Rarely needed
27	Saudi Arabia	84	Accepted almost everywhere	Rarely needed
31	Bahrain	82	Accepted almost everywhere	Rarely needed
31	Kuwait	82	Accepted almost everywhere	Rarely needed
31	Spain	82	Accepted almost everywhere	Carry a little
31	Switzerland	82	Accepted almost everywhere	Carry a little
35	Andorra	80	Widely accepted	Carry a little
35	Brazil	80	Accepted almost everywhere	Rarely needed
35	Chile	80	Accepted almost everywhere	Carry a little
35	Portugal	80	Widely accepted	Carry a little
35	South Africa	80	Accepted almost everywhere	Carry a little
40	Turkey	78	Widely accepted	Carry a little
40	Ukraine	78	Widely accepted	Carry a little
42	Cyprus	76	Widely accepted	Carry a little
42	Malta	76	Widely accepted	Carry a little
42	Slovenia	76	Widely accepted	Carry a little
42	Uruguay	76	Widely accepted	Carry a little
46	Croatia	74	Widely accepted	Carry a little
47	Italy	72	Widely accepted	Carry a little
47	Malaysia	72	Widely accepted	Carry a little
47	San Marino	72	Widely accepted	Carry a little
50	Austria	70	Widely accepted	Carry a little
50	Greece	70	Widely accepted	Carry a little
50	Hungary	70	Widely accepted	Carry a little
50	Japan	70	Widely accepted	Carry a little
50	Maldives	70	Widely accepted	Carry a little
50	Slovakia	70	Widely accepted	Carry a little
56	Costa Rica	68	Widely accepted	Carry a little
56	Kazakhstan	68	Widely accepted	Carry a little
56	Mauritius	68	Widely accepted	Carry a little
56	Oman	68	Widely accepted	Carry a little
56	Romania	68	Widely accepted	Carry a little
61	Argentina	66	Widely accepted	Carry a little
61	Georgia	66	Widely accepted	Carry a little
61	Germany	66	Widely accepted	Carry a little
61	Macao	66	Widely accepted	Carry a little
61	Seychelles	66	Widely accepted	Carry a little
66	Barbados	64	Widely accepted	Carry a little
66	Bulgaria	64	Widely accepted	Carry a little
66	Namibia	64	Widely accepted	Carry a little
69	Bahamas	62	Widely accepted	Carry a little
69	Brunei	62	Widely accepted	Carry a little
69	Serbia	62	Widely accepted	Carry a little
69	Taiwan	62	Widely accepted	Carry a little
73	Botswana	60	Widely accepted	Carry a little
73	Panama	60	Widely accepted	Carry a little
75	Armenia	58	Cities and tourist areas	Carry a little
75	Kenya	58	Cities and tourist areas	Carry a little
75	Montenegro	58	Cities and tourist areas	Needed daily
78	Antigua and Barbuda	56	Widely accepted	Carry a little
78	Azerbaijan	56	Cities and tourist areas	Carry a little
78	Colombia	56	Cities and tourist areas	Carry a little
78	Mexico	56	Cities and tourist areas	Needed daily
78	Thailand	56	Cities and tourist areas	Needed daily
83	Dominican Republic	54	Cities and tourist areas	Needed daily
83	Saint Lucia	54	Cities and tourist areas	Carry a little
85	North Macedonia	52	Cities and tourist areas	Needed daily
85	Trinidad and Tobago	52	Cities and tourist areas	Carry a little
87	Indonesia	50	Cities and tourist areas	Needed daily
87	Jamaica	50	Cities and tourist areas	Needed daily
87	Jordan	50	Cities and tourist areas	Needed daily
87	Moldova	50	Cities and tourist areas	Needed daily
87	Rwanda	50	Cities and tourist areas	Needed daily
87	Saint Kitts and Nevis	50	Cities and tourist areas	Needed daily
93	Bosnia and Herzegovina	48	Cities and tourist areas	Needed daily
93	Cabo Verde	48	Cities and tourist areas	Needed daily
93	Eswatini	48	Cities and tourist areas	Needed daily
93	Mongolia	48	Cities and tourist areas	Needed daily
93	Peru	48	Cities and tourist areas	Needed daily
93	Philippines	48	Cities and tourist areas	Needed daily
93	Vietnam	48	Cities and tourist areas	Needed daily
100	Grenada	46	Cities and tourist areas	Needed daily
100	India	46	Cities and tourist areas	Needed daily
102	Albania	44	Cities and tourist areas	Needed daily
102	El Salvador	44	Cities and tourist areas	Needed daily
102	Uzbekistan	44	Cities and tourist areas	Needed daily
105	Ecuador	42	Cities and tourist areas	Needed daily
105	Egypt	42	Cities and tourist areas	Needed daily
105	Fiji	42	Cities and tourist areas	Needed daily
105	Paraguay	42	Cities and tourist areas	Needed daily
109	Belize	40	Cities and tourist areas	Needed daily
109	Kosovo	40	Cities and tourist areas	Needed daily
109	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	40	Cities and tourist areas	Needed daily
109	Sri Lanka	40	Cities and tourist areas	Needed daily
113	Cambodia	38	Hotels and a few big businesses	Bring plenty
113	Nigeria	38	Hotels and a few big businesses	Needed daily
115	Dominica	36	Hotels and a few big businesses	Needed daily
115	Ghana	36	Hotels and a few big businesses	Needed daily
115	Guatemala	36	Cities and tourist areas	Needed daily
115	Morocco	36	Cities and tourist areas	Needed daily
115	Palau	36	Hotels and a few big businesses	Needed daily
115	Tanzania	36	Hotels and a few big businesses	Needed daily
121	Tunisia	34	Cities and tourist areas	Needed daily
122	Zambia	32	Hotels and a few big businesses	Needed daily
123	Bhutan	30	Hotels and a few big businesses	Needed daily
123	Honduras	30	Hotels and a few big businesses	Bring plenty
123	Kyrgyzstan	30	Hotels and a few big businesses	Bring plenty
123	Nepal	30	Hotels and a few big businesses	Bring plenty
123	Samoa	30	Hotels and a few big businesses	Bring plenty
123	Vanuatu	30	Hotels and a few big businesses	Bring plenty
129	Senegal	28	Hotels and a few big businesses	Bring plenty
130	Bangladesh	26	Hotels and a few big businesses	Bring plenty
130	Bolivia	26	Hotels and a few big businesses	Needed daily
130	Cote d'Ivoire	26	Hotels and a few big businesses	Bring plenty
130	Nicaragua	26	Hotels and a few big businesses	Bring plenty
134	Laos	24	Hotels and a few big businesses	Bring plenty
134	Lesotho	24	Hotels and a few big businesses	Bring plenty
134	Uganda	24	Hotels and a few big businesses	Bring plenty
134	Zimbabwe	24	Hotels and a few big businesses	Bring plenty
138	Pakistan	22	Hotels and a few big businesses	Bring plenty
139	Gambia	20	Hotels and a few big businesses	Bring plenty
139	Lebanon	20	Hotels and a few big businesses	Bring plenty
139	Mozambique	20	Hotels and a few big businesses	Bring plenty
139	Tonga	20	Hotels and a few big businesses	Bring plenty
143	Belarus	18	Rarely or never	Bring plenty
143	Djibouti	18	Hotels and a few big businesses	Bring plenty
143	Marshall Islands	18	Hotels and a few big businesses	Bring plenty
146	Angola	16	Rarely or never	Bring plenty
146	Ethiopia	16	Rarely or never	Bring plenty
146	Guyana	16	Rarely or never	Bring plenty
146	Micronesia	16	Hotels and a few big businesses	Bring plenty
150	Gabon	14	Rarely or never	Bring plenty
150	Iraq	14	Rarely or never	Bring plenty
150	Madagascar	14	Rarely or never	Bring plenty
150	Malawi	14	Rarely or never	Bring plenty
150	Suriname	14	Rarely or never	Bring plenty
150	Tajikistan	14	Rarely or never	Bring plenty
156	Benin	12	Rarely or never	Bring plenty
156	Cameroon	12	Rarely or never	Bring plenty
156	Papua New Guinea	12	Rarely or never	Bring plenty
156	Russia	12	Rarely or never	Bring plenty
156	Timor-Leste	12	Rarely or never	Bring plenty
161	Solomon Islands	10	Rarely or never	Bring plenty
161	Togo	10	Rarely or never	Bring plenty
161	Venezuela	10	Rarely or never	Bring plenty
164	Algeria	8	Rarely or never	Bring plenty
164	Burkina Faso	8	Rarely or never	Bring plenty
164	Congo	8	Rarely or never	Bring plenty
164	Liberia	8	Rarely or never	Bring plenty
164	Myanmar	8	Rarely or never	Bring plenty
169	Comoros	6	Rarely or never	Bring plenty
169	DR Congo	6	Rarely or never	Bring plenty
169	Equatorial Guinea	6	Rarely or never	Bring plenty
169	Haiti	6	Rarely or never	Bring plenty
169	Kiribati	6	Rarely or never	Bring plenty
169	Nauru	6	Rarely or never	Bring plenty
175	Guinea	5	Rarely or never	Bring plenty
175	Mali	5	Rarely or never	Bring plenty
175	Mauritania	5	Rarely or never	Bring plenty
175	Sierra Leone	5	Rarely or never	Bring plenty
179	Burundi	4	Rarely or never	Bring plenty
179	Cuba	4	Rarely or never	Bring plenty
179	Sao Tome and Principe	4	Rarely or never	Bring plenty
179	Somalia	4	Rarely or never	Bring plenty
179	Syria	4	Rarely or never	Bring plenty
179	Turkmenistan	4	Rarely or never	Bring plenty
179	Tuvalu	4	Rarely or never	Bring plenty
186	Chad	3	Rarely or never	Bring plenty
186	Guinea-Bissau	3	Rarely or never	Bring plenty
186	Iran	3	Rarely or never	Bring plenty
186	Libya	3	Rarely or never	Bring plenty
186	Niger	3	Rarely or never	Bring plenty
191	Afghanistan	2	Rarely or never	Bring plenty
191	Central African Republic	2	Rarely or never	Bring plenty
191	Eritrea	2	Rarely or never	Bring plenty
191	South Sudan	2	Rarely or never	Bring plenty
191	Sudan	2	Rarely or never	Bring plenty
191	Yemen	2	Rarely or never	Bring plenty
197	North Korea	1	Rarely or never	Bring plenty