Swedish rounding

Swedish öresavrundning receipts (click to enlarge):

gross	223.20	324.88	65.40
net	223.00	324.88	65.50
	rounded down	unrounded (debit card)	rounded up

Swedish rounding is rounding the basic cost of a purchase which is to be paid for in cash to the nearest multiple of the smallest denomination of currency. The term "Swedish rounding" is used mostly in Australia, where such a method has been practised since the 1990s.

Details

Rounding becomes necessary where low denomination coins in a currency are withdrawn or otherwise made unavailable, but the currency's subdivisions remain the same. Since it may not be possible to make exact change for a purchase, rounding the total bill to the lowest available denomination of coinage is required if a customer is paying in cash. If payment is being tendered using credit card, debit card, EFTPOS or cheque, no rounding is necessary.

The practice was introduced in Sweden following the removal of 1 and 2 öre coins from circulation in 1972. It is called "öresavrundning", meaning "öre rounding". A similar system was later adopted by the Reserve Bank of New Zealand in 1990, when the 1 and 2 cent coins were removed from circulation, and the Reserve Bank of Australia which did the same for its own currency in 1993. At this time, the phrase "Swedish rounding" came into use in both countries.^{[citation needed]}

Mechanics

Rounding with 5¢ intervals

This was used in Sweden from 1972 to 1985, New Zealand from 1990 to 2006, and is used in Argentina (always rounded down), Australia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Canada, Finland, Hungary, Malaysia (though 1 sen coins are still legal tender), The Netherlands, Singapore, Switzerland, and Turkey (even though the 1 kuruş coin can still be used). In Chile, where 1 peso coins are legal but rare, prices are rounded to the nearest 5 pesos using the same system.

• Prices are rounded down to the nearest multiple of 5 cents for sales ending in: 1¢ & 2¢ to 0¢; and, 6¢ & 7¢ to 5¢;
• Prices are rounded up to the nearest multiple of 5 cents for sales ending in: 3¢ & 4¢ to 5¢; and, 8¢ & 9¢ to 10¢
• Values ending in 0¢ or 5¢ remain unchanged.

Rounding with 10¢ intervals

Chinese receipt showing a total being rounded down by ¥0.09.

This is currently used in New Zealand, which eliminated its 5 cent coin in 2006. This is also the case in Hong Kong, which eliminated its 5 cent coin in 1989 and 1 cent note in 1995. In practice only utility bills, petrol stations and banks still keep the cent. All other businesses use only ten cent intervals.

• round down to the nearest 10 cent value for sales ending in 1¢, 2¢, 3¢, 4¢, 5¢;
• round up to the nearest 10 cent value for sales ending in 6¢, 7¢, 8¢, 9¢;
• In NZ, it is up to the business to decide if they will round 5¢ intervals up or down. The majority of retailers follow government advice and round it down.

In the People's Republic of China, coins smaller than ¥0.10 are now rare though still valid. As a result, many shops simply truncate their bills down to the next ¥0.10 increment, giving the customer a discount of up to ¥0.09.

In Sweden between 1985 and 1992, prices were rounded up for sales ending in 5 öre.

Rounding with 25 øre intervals

The following system was used in Denmark until the 25 øre was demonetised on 1 October 2008:

• Sales ending in 1–12 øre round down to 0 øre.
• Sales ending in 13–24 øre round up to 25 øre.
• Sales ending in 26–37 øre round down to 25 øre.
• Sales ending in 38–49 øre round up to 50 øre.
• Sales ending in 51–62 øre round down to 50 øre.
• Sales ending in 63–74 øre round up to 75 øre.
• Sales ending in 76–87 øre round down to 75 øre.
• Sales ending in 88–99 øre round up to the next whole Danish krone.

Rounding with 50 øre intervals

The system used in Sweden from 1992 to 2010, in Norway from 1993 to 2012, and in Denmark since 1 October 2008 is the following:

• Sales ending in 1–24 øre round down to 0 øre/öre.
• Sales ending in 25–49 øre round up to 50 øre/öre.
• Sales ending in 51–74 øre round down to 50 øre/öre.
• Sales ending in 75–99 øre round up to the next whole Krone/krona.

In practice, the proportion of transactions rounded upwards is greater, due to psychological pricing of items ending in 90–99 øre. Rounding is only done on the total sum of a purchase, which makes that effect smaller. In many shops all prices are already rounded to the whole krone, so that no rounding takes place.

Rounding with 1 krona intervals

The system used in Sweden since 30 September 2010 and used in Norway since 1 May 2012.

• Sales ending in 1–49 öre/øre round down to 0 öre/øre.
• Sales ending in 50–99 öre/øre round up to the next whole krona/krone.

See also

Related currencies

• Australian dollar
• Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark
• Brazilian real
• Pound sterling
• Canadian dollar
• Chinese renminbi
• Czech koruna
• Danish krone
• Estonian kroon
• Hungarian forint (from 1 March 2008 onwards)
• Israeli new shekel
• Libyan dinar
• Malaysian ringgit (from 1 April 2008 onwards)
• New Zealand dollar
• Norwegian krone
• South African rand (from 1 April 2002 onwards), rounding is done to the nearest 5c
• Swedish krona
• Swiss franc

Rounding related social issues

• Efforts to eliminate the penny in the United States
• Take a penny, leave a penny