2019-08-07 Wed

The number of fake euro banknotes that have been removed from circulation in the 1st half of 2019 is 4.2% less than the number of fake notes that were detected in the 2nd half of 2018. It is also 16.6% less than the number of counterfeits that were found in the 1st half of 2018. The number of euro notes in circulation increased by almost 5.6%, while the value of notes increased by 5.2% in 2018. 22 billion euro banknotes worth almost €1.2 trillion are currently in circulation. Due to an increase in the number of notes in circulation, the chances of finding a fake note is very low.

80% of all counterfeits were of the denominations €20 and €50 this year. 97.2% of them were found in euro area countries, 2.1% were found in non-euro area EU Member States and 0.7% were found in other parts of the world.

Citizens are encouraged to apply the “feel, look and tilt” method to identify fake notes. People can contact the police, central banks or local banks if they identify a counterfeited note. The Eurosystem works Law Enforcement Agencies to combat this crime. It also keeps informing citizens about the ways in which counterfeited notes can be detected, apart from upgrading banknote-handling and processing machines. Banknotes from the Europa series contain advanced security features, due to which the number of counterfeit notes in circulation has drastically reduced. The last two denominations from the new series, €100 and €200 banknotes were introduced on 28th May 2019.

Image Courtesy: Wikimedia Commons