₹2, ₹5, and ₹2000 notes still in circulation, but no longer printed: 9 facts from RBI report on currency

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has stopped printing ₹2, ₹5 and ₹2000 banknotes, according to its Annual Report for 2024-25 released on Thursday. While these notes remain legal tender, they are no longer being produced as part of India's evolving currency management strategy.

“Presently, banknotes in circulation comprise denominations of ₹2, ₹5, ₹10, ₹20, ₹50, ₹100, ₹200, ₹500 and ₹2000,” the central bank said.

“The Reserve Bank is no longer printing banknotes of denominations of ₹2, ₹5 and ₹2000,” it added.

Here are some other facts from the RBI’s report on currency management:

As of March 31, 2025, around 98.2% of ₹3.56 lakh crore worth of ₹2000 notes in circulation at the time of the withdrawal announcement have returned to the banking system. The RBI is still accepting ₹2000 notes at its 19 issue offices and via India Post for account credit.

The ₹500 denomination continued to form the backbone of currency in circulation, accounting for 86% in value and 40.9% in volume. However, its share in value terms showed a marginal decline from the previous year.

The RBI’s expenditure on security printing rose to ₹6,372.8 crore in 2024-25, up from ₹5,101.4 crore the year before, due to an increase in demand for new banknotes.

The total value and volume of banknotes in circulation grew by 6.0% and 5.6% respectively in 2024-25.

Coins in circulation increased by 9.6% in value and 3.6% in volume. Denominations of ₹1, ₹2, and ₹5 together made up over 81% of coins in circulation by volume.

The value of digital rupee (e₹) in circulation skyrocketed by 334% during 2024-25, indicating growing adoption of the central bank digital currency (CBDC).

₹10, ₹20, and ₹50 notes together accounted for 31.7% of all banknotes in circulation by volume.

Fake currency detection in ₹200 and ₹500 denominations increased by 13.9% and 37.3%, respectively. On the other hand, counterfeit detection declined for ₹10, ₹20, ₹50, ₹100 and ₹2000 notes.