Starting from 1 January 2025, the final price of a basket of shopping paid for in cash in a physical point of sale is rounded to the nearest five cents – meaning Estonia is phasing out one and two-cent euro coins, being the seventh country in the eurozone to do so.
According to the Bank of Estonia, the change to the law means that shopkeepers no longer have to give out one and two-cent coins as change, and there is no longer as much need in Estonia to circulate those coins, which people use for paying with only extremely rarely.
There will be no rounding for payments made with a bank card.
Estonia is the seventh country in the eurozone to introduce the rounding rule, which is intended to reduce the number of one and two-cent coins in circulation.
The Bank of Estonia has previously issued an average of two truckloads of one and two-cent coins into circulation each year. Most of these small coins never make it back to the central bank because although shops need them for giving change, customers pay with them only very rarely. As it no longer makes sense to use these coins, the final price of a basket of shopping paid for in cash in a shop is rounded to the nearest five cents, the country’s central bank said in a statement.
When a customer pays in cash in a shop, one must remember that the merchant is obliged to round the final price to the nearest five cents.
Using one and two-cent coins still possible
“The amount you have to pay can be rounded upwards or downwards by one or two cents. The prices of individual goods and services will not be rounded, and so the rounding rule will not cause inflation to rise at all,” the central bank said.
If you pay by different means, such as a bank card, smart device, gift card or transfer, the price will be charged to the exact cent and will not be rounded.
“If the customer wants to pay using one and two-cent coins, this will be perfectly possible, as those coins will remain legal tender in Estonia and shops will still have to accept all euro cent coins whatever their value. The law requires shopkeepers to accept up to 50 euro coins at any one go, regardless of their value.”
The six countries in the euro area that already apply the rounding rule are Finland, the Netherlands, Ireland, Italy, Belgium and Slovakia. Lithuania will join Estonia in introducing the rounding rule from May 2025.
