ATM terminal numbers fell 2.5 per cent to 25,025 over the 12 months to December, according to the latest Australian Payments Network figures.
ATM numbers dropped sharply during the COVID lockdown period, reflecting the closure of bars and shops where they were located, and then bounced back in 2021.
But in 2022 they resumed their long-term decline. ATM numbers are now 23.9 per cent below their peak of 32,879 terminals in the December quarter 2016.
Despite the cut in numbers last year, Reserve Bank figures show that the value of cash withdrawals from domestic ATMs rose from an average of A$8.02 billion a month in 2021 to an average of $8.37 billion a month last year – an increase of 4.4 per cent.
But the long-term trend in cash withdrawals is also down. Withdrawal value of $7.7 billion from domestic terminals in January is one of the lowest figures in the RBA data series, which goes back 20 years.
Prior to 2021, monthly withdrawal amounts from domestic terminals of less than $9 billion were rare. But over the past two years monthly withdrawals under $9 billion have become the norm.
With the recovery in overseas travel over the past year, withdrawals from overseas ATMs by Australian debit card holders has bounced back strongly. The $248 million of withdrawals in January was more than three times the value of withdrawals in the previous January.