The number of counterfeit euro banknotes seized last year, mostly denominations of 20 and 50 euros, rose again after the lowest observed in 2012 (AFP/Archives/THOMAS COEX)
The number of counterfeit euro banknotes seized last year, mostly denominations of 20 and 50 euros, has risen again after the lowest observed in 2021, according to figures published Monday by the European Central Bank (ECB).
In total, some 376,000 fake notes were withdrawn from circulation last year, an increase of 8.4% over one year. This is a reversal of the trend after several years of decline to lead to 347,000 tickets seized in 2021, which was the historic low.
This increase “reflects the resumption of economic activity in 2022, after the lifting of most restrictions linked to the Covid-19 pandemic”, explains the monetary institute.
In comparison, 29.5 billion genuine banknotes were in circulation at the end of December, an increase of 4.4% over one year and almost four times since their introduction in 2002.
In other words “the probability of receiving a counterfeit is very low” while “13 counterfeits were detected for 1 million genuine banknotes in circulation” on which appear bridges, windows and other imaginary monuments, invented to embody the monetary union during of the creation of the euro.
The 20 and 50 euro notes remain the most counterfeited values, representing nearly two thirds of seizures (63.6%).
In recent years, the ECB has gradually provided the euro zone with new banknotes with reinforced security features, making the work of counterfeiters more difficult.
Only the issue of new 500 euro notes has been stopped since the end of 2018, this cut being accused of facilitating criminal trafficking. In 2022, this represented nearly 2% of all counterfeits.
Counterfeits are most often “very bad imitations”, notes the ECB, which has been raising public awareness for years via the method of “touching, looking, tilting” the banknote.
On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the cash euro at the beginning of 2022, the institute launched a project for new designs on euro banknotes, envisaging the inclusion of famous people or monuments, actually existing, on future denominations from of 2024.
© 2023 AFP
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