Stashes of 50,000-won banknotes damaged by fire is shown in this Feb.3 photo provided by the Bank of Korea (BOK). Courtesy of BOK

The volume of damaged banknotes found in Korea inched down in 2024 from a year earlier to 474.89 million bills, the central bank said Monday.

The volume marks a 1.9 percent decline from the previous year's 483.85 million bills, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).

Still, the bills, when stacked together, stand 23 times higher than Mount Everest, costing millions of dollars in taxpayer money.

"If we stack up all the damaged banknotes last year, the height is 23 times higher than that of Mount Everest of 8,849 meters. The BOK will continue campaigns to promote the use of banknotes properly so as to reduce costs for handling damaged bills and issuing new ones," the central bank said in a release.

In terms of face value, damaged banknotes discarded by the BOK went down 12.9 percent from a year earlier to 3.38 trillion won in 2024. (Yonhap)