More than $76 billion of Australian banknotes are MISSING and hidden

REVEALED: More than $76billion of Australian banknotes are MISSING – and where they’re going will surprise you

  • A staggering $76 billion in missing banknotes has gone missing in Australia 
  • Up to eight per cent of the stash is tied up with criminal activity and drugs 
  • The average Australian loses between $170 and $340 in notes a year

Australia’s banknotes are mysteriously disappearing into illicit drug deals, a thriving underground black market and hoarding, a new report has revealed. 

A staggering $76 billion in missing banknotes has stumped the reserve bank who are struggling to account for the missing cash.  

Up to eight per cent of the stash is tied up with criminal activity, tax evasion and drugs, the Reserve Bank of Australia has found.  

Australia’s banknotes are mysteriously disappearing into illicit drug deals, a thriving underground black market and hoarding, a new report has revealed (file photo)

For the average Australian, this equates to losing between $170 and $340 in notes a year. The figures also imply every Australian has $3,000 in cash on hand – either in a wallet, hidden, buried or forgotten. 

Cash – which can remain anonymous and is near impossible to trace – fuels Australia’s shadow economy where large amounts are concealed or used to pay for illegal goods and services. 

Estimates put the size of the nation’s shadow economy to be worth $41.5 billion. 

Cash used to facilitate dodgy transactions is estimated to be between $3.5 and $6 billion worth of Australian banknotes, split between underground production, purchases of illegal drugs, and storing profits of criminal activity.  

A staggering $76 billion in missing banknotes has stumped the reserve bank who are struggling to account for the missing cash (file photo)

A staggering $76 billion in missing banknotes has stumped the reserve bank who are struggling to account for the missing cash (file photo)

Much of the black market cash is tied up in drugs – a finding supported by the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission who estimated the size of Australia’s illicit drug market through wastewater analysis.

Australians spent $13.5 billion on illicit drugs in the year through August 2017, with methamphetamine and cannabis accounting for over 70 per cent of purchases. 

More than $6 billion was spent on methamphetamines. 

‘Excluding cannabis, methamphetamine — also known as meth or ice — is the most used illicit drug in Australia by weight, followed by cocaine, MDMA — also known as ecstasy — and then heroin,’ the report said.  

Australians spent $13.5 billion on illicit drugs in the year through August 2017, with methamphetamine and cannabis accounting for over 70 per cent of purchases (stock photo)

Australians spent $13.5 billion on illicit drugs in the year through August 2017, with methamphetamine and cannabis accounting for over 70 per cent of purchases (stock photo)

Another surprising finding saw half to three-quarters of total outstanding banknotes were being hoarded, either domestically or abroad. 

Up to 20 per cent of total outstanding banknotes are said to be tied up in domestic hoarding and up to 15 per cent is said to be hoarded internationally.

These figures are still likely to be an underestimate. 

Evidence from the 2016 Reserve Bank’s Consumer Payment Survey suggests that around 70 per cent of Australians hold cash outside of their wallets, and that they do so for a variety of reasons, including as a store of wealth, for use in emergencies, a desire for privacy and as a back-up in case of problems with electronic payment systems. 

The existence of asset means-testing for various social benefits in Australia, and more generally the desire to hide assets from tax authorities, also provides an incentive for Australians to hold assets in a form that is hard to trace.    

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk