Money Supply Glossary: M0 to M4 and Broad Money, Country by Country
Monetary aggregates measure how much money circulates in an economy. They run in layers, from physical cash to the broadest mix of bank deposits. We sum broad money across 159 of the 185 economies we track. The total is $144.41 trillion, on observation dates spanning 2008-05 to 2026-06. This money supply glossary maps that liquidity ladder to the country that uses each rung, twelve terms below.
On r/Bitcoin, a 352-upvote thread on global M2 liquidity drew the reply “What does M2 mean?” (6 upvotes, 2025-05-13). On r/economy, a US-vs-China M2 thread drew a comment asking what M.2 (the SSD form factor) is used for (2024-12-13). Readers arrive through a meme and hit the jargon first. Every entry below names the country it applies to, not just the letter — the letter alone is where people get stuck.
The M0-M4 Ladder, and Which Country Reports Which Letter
| Aggregate | What it adds | Headline in |
|---|---|---|
| M0 / monetary base | Central bank currency + reserves | Base layer everywhere |
| M1 | Demand deposits, checkable accounts | Component everywhere |
| M2 | Savings deposits, small time deposits, retail money market funds | United States |
| M3 | Large time deposits, institutional money market funds | Euro area |
| M4 | Broader private-sector liquid assets | United Kingdom |
| M2++ (parallel ladder) | M2 plus non-bank deposits, savings bonds, mutual funds | Canada |
No two economies draw the line at the same rung. The US publishes M1 and M2 as its headline pair. The Fed stopped reporting M3 in 2006. The euro area’s headline is M3, which the ECB calls broad money. The UK’s headline is M4. Canada’s is M2++. That’s why the IMF publishes a harmonised “broad money” series. An “M2” box only fits the United States. It’s also why our dataset reports broad money, not “M2”, for the 185 economies we track. How one country’s letter maps to another’s lives on broad money across countries.
Every Term, in Order
Money supply and monetary aggregates are the umbrella terms — everything below draws a line around that stock of currency and deposits. The ladder runs narrowest to widest.
M0 monetary base
The monetary base is central bank currency plus reserves held there — the layer every other aggregate sits on top of.
M1 money supply
M1, often called M1 narrow money, adds demand deposits and checkable accounts to physical currency: money that moves without a withdrawal delay.
M2 money supply
M2 is the Federal Reserve definition of M2 broad money: M1 plus savings deposits, small time deposits under $100,000, retail money market funds. The US figure we publish, $30.68T (2025-12), is the IMF’s harmonised broad money — a wider series than the Fed’s own M2, and several trillion above it.
M3 money supply
M3 adds large time deposits and institutional money market funds to M2. The US stopped publishing it in 2006. The euro area still reports it as its headline aggregate.
M4 money supply
M4 is the UK’s headline aggregate — M3 plus a wider set of private-sector liquid assets.
Broad money
Broad money is the widest aggregate a country reports: M2 in the US, M3 in the euro area, M4 in the UK. It’s the figure this site uses in every cross-country ranking.
Narrow money vs. broad money
Broad money vs. narrow money: narrow money is M1 alone, spendable without delay. Broad money adds savings deposits and near money instruments a step removed from cash.
Money supply doubling time
We compute year-over-year growth, 10-year CAGR, doubling time ourselves from each country’s own series. The IMF and the World Bank don’t publish any of the three. Doubling time answers a simple question: at the current pace, how many years until this currency’s broad money stock doubles?
Currency in circulation
Currency in circulation is cash only — banknotes and coins outside bank vaults, not deposits. Physical currency in circulation runs close to $8 trillion worldwide. That’s a fraction of the $144.41 trillion broad-money total above. It’s the term readers most often confuse with the full money supply.
- Money Supply Definition: What the Fed and IMF Track
- Monetary Aggregates: The M0-M4 Ladder, Country by Country
- The Fed's Monetary Base, and Why It Isn't M2
- M1 Money Supply: What the 2020 Redefinition Changed
- M2 Money Supply: Definition, Components and Broad Money
- M3 Money Supply, Discontinued 2006: Live at the ECB
- M4 Money Supply: The Bank of England''s Broadest Aggregate
- Broad Money Definition: The IMF''s Term, Not Just M2
- Broad Money vs Narrow Money: The Liquidity Ladder, Compared
- Comparing Money Supply Across 165 Countries
- Currency in Circulation: $2.42T, Not the Money Supply
- Money Supply Doubling Time: 1.3 to 65.3 Years
Where the Definitions Turn Into Data
That’s the vocabulary. The 185-economy dataset behind it converts every aggregate above to USD where a rate exists, and computes growth and doubling time for all of it. That’s why this glossary terminates in numbers, not more definitions. The methodology page states which 24 economies lack a USD figure, and why two more are held out of the total.