Most ‘cash heavy’ and ‘cash light’ parts of UK for Link ATM withdrawals revealed

UK adults made an average of 15 trips to cash machines last year, according to figures from ATM and cash access network Link.

People typically withdrew £1,352 from cash machines in 2025, a 5% decrease compared with an average of £1,424 withdrawn across 2024, Link said.

In total, people over the age of 16 made 832 million cash withdrawals last year, which was around 9% less than in 2024.

Link said that ATMs make up the bulk of cash withdrawals in the UK, ahead of cashback and counter transactions at bank branches, post offices and banking hubs.

It said its research indicates that people are visiting ATMs less often, but withdrawing more cash when they do.

Northern Ireland remained the most “cash heavy” part of the UK with consumers withdrawing an average £2,249 in 2025, Link said.

The average amount of cash withdrawn over last year was lowest in the south west of England, where the average consumer withdrew £974 – marking the first time in Link’s data that the average fell below £1,000 in any region.

Link has been carrying out similar analysis for seven years.

Recent research by Link indicates that while just under half of adults (48%) carry a physical purse or wallet with them on a daily basis, 51% said they had used cash in the last week.

More than six in 10 (61%) said they had experienced payment failures, such as systems outages.

Among those who had experienced payment failures, some people had to abandon purchases or rely on other people to pay for them.

The figures only cover Link ATMs.

Link said that by the end of 2025, there were 5% fewer cash machines than at the end of 2024.

Of these, 33,710 are free to use and 8,693 are fee charging.

Link said its financial inclusion programme works to ensure everyone has good free access to cash.

Graham Mott, director of strategy at Link, said: “Digital payments are increasingly popular and our data shows that millions are comfortable and happy to leave their home relying on their digital wallet on their smartwatch or smartphone.

“Even though usage is falling in every part of the UK, cash remains resilient, and essential to millions of people.

“Link’s job is to ensure that we continue to have excellent access to cash on every high street across the UK.”

Here are average total ATM withdrawals per adult in the years 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 and lastly 2025, according to Link:

Northern Ireland, £2,931, £2,124, £2,070, £2,266, £2,340, £2,274, £2,249

London, £2,572, £1,838, £1,699, £1,744, £1,684, £1,575, £1,458

Scotland, £2,553, £1,670, £1,578, £1,686, £1,674, £1,604, £1,550

North West, £2,420, £1,745, £1,662, £1,709, £1,670, £1,595, £1,529

Yorkshire and the Humber, £2,379, £1,705, £1,624, £1,691, £1,658, £1,696, £1,524

North East, £2,378, £1,711, £1,632, £1,745, £1,718, £1,682, £1,604

West Midlands, £2,191, £1,612, £1,523, £1,579, £1,556, £1,503, £1,422

East Midlands, £2,017, £1,427, £1,352, £1,400, £1,379, £1,326, £1,258

Wales, £2,005, £1,407, £1,349, £1,454, £1,441, £1,415, £1,355

East of England, £1,894, £1,299, £1,223, £1,260, £1,242, £1,200, £1,137

South East, £1,780, £1,196, £1,115, £1,165, £1,145, £1,096, £1,032

South West, £1,684, £1,090, £1,023, £1,069, £1,064, £1,030, £974