Industry estimates suggest that banknotes printed on polymer substrates, for example, cost twice as much to produce as paper banknotes, but last three to four times longer. This was certainly Australia's experience in the late 1990s, the first few years of printing our banknotes on polymer.
Recent estimates suggest that the Australian $ banknote – our lowest denomination banknote – has a median life of around 3½ years while our largest circulation note by volume – the $ – has a median life of around 10 years.