In Germany, 46% of people prefer to use cash (YG, 2021)

This statistic is from YouGov's Global Banking & Finance Report 2021.

The report explores how COVID-19 has changed preferences, behaviours and expectations in each global market, providing an overview of financial attitudes and habits in 2021. Encompassing payments, investment, banking ethics and marketing, it aims to set benchmarks for comparison in future reports.

The 17 markets covered are Australia, China, Denmark, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Italy, Mexico, Poland, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, the United Arab Emirates and the United States of America.

Overview

The report notes that, in several markets, the majority of consumers have actively limited spending. This ranges from 20 percent of the adult population in Denmark to 53 percent in the United Arab Emirates and 56 percent in Italy. In Indonesia, the figure is as high as 72 percent. COVID-19, it observes, has given people many reasons to lower their expenditure.

With regards to how people pay, the report finds that the reduction in cash use has been rather exaggerated, and physical money remains a popular and necessary payment option.