The 1,000-krone banknote (about €85) could disappear from Norway’s cash system after Finance Minister Jens Stoltenberg asked Norges Bank to assess whether the note should be phased out, arguing it is disproportionately useful for money laundering and other forms of economic crime.
Why Norway is targeting the 1,000-krone banknote
In a 15 January statement, the Ministry of Finance said it is stepping up efforts against economic crime and has asked Norges Bank to review the denomination mix of Norwegian banknotes. The government’s argument is simple: cash is anonymous and hard to trace, which makes high-value notes attractive in the shadow economy.
The ministry also pointed to a long-term decline in everyday cash use. Only 2% of all payments in Norway are now made in cash, and cash represents 1% of the total value of payments, according to the same statement. The government stresses that cash still plays a role in preparedness when payment systems fail, and that some people still need cash in daily life.
The political bet is that removing the 1,000 note would make large cash transactions more cumbersome without “abolishing cash” as a backup option.
What would change for cash payments, in practice
The 1,000-krone note is not being removed by decree. Under Norway’s framework, Norges Bank decides what denominations exist, and it has previously kept five denominations, including the 1,000 note, when rolling out the current banknote series.
At the same time, the ministry is preparing a separate move aimed at narrowing the space for large cash deals. Later in January, it plans to send for consultation a proposal to lower cash payment limits to NOK 10,000 (about €853) from two existing thresholds:
- Consumers’ right to pay cash in certain sales settings: NOK 20,000 (about €1,706)
- The anti-money-laundering cash ceiling for payments for goods: NOK 40,000 (about €3,412)
A NOK 1,000 banknote is worth about €85 at current exchange rates.
Denmark and Sweden show two different Nordic approaches
Norway’s debate is shaped by what has already happened next door.
In Denmark, the 1,000-krone note was withdrawn as legal tender as part of a broader banknote transition. Danish authorities have framed the change around modernising cash and reducing the usefulness of large notes in illicit transactions. The 1,000-krone note stopped being valid after 31 May 2025, with the public encouraged to use it, deposit it, or exchange it ahead of the deadline.
Sweden offers a different reference point. Sweden still has a 1,000-krona note in circulation (around €93), but its payments system is among the most digitalised in the world. In the Riksbank’s Payments Report, Sweden’s central bank notes that about one in ten in-store purchases are made in cash, with cash use declining over the long term even if surveys have shown small year-to-year fluctuations.
That mix matters for Norway’s policy choices: the Nordic region is broadly moving away from cash in daily life, but governments and central banks have also become more explicit about the resilience value of cash as a fallback in crises.
The €500 note comparison: legal tender, but under scrutiny
Norway’s 1,000-krone note debate echoes a wider European pattern. The €500 banknote has been controversial for years because of concerns that high-denomination cash is convenient for illicit finance.
The key difference is institutional: the euro area stopped issuing new €500 notes in 2019, but the note remains legal tender and can still be used for payments or as a store of value. The European Central Bank has framed the phase-out as a security and integrity measure, while allowing existing notes to keep their value.
Norway’s proposal is smaller in scale, but it raises the same policy trade-off: how to limit the role of high-value cash in criminal markets without undermining legitimate uses of cash for privacy, inclusion, and preparedness.
