Number of euro counterfeits drops
Besides the presentation of the new 5 euro yesterday the European Central Bank also had other news to report. The ECB said it removed 12,4% fewer counterfeit euro banknotes from circulation in 2012 than in the previous year. The bank withdrew about 531.000 forged notes compared with 606.000 in 2011.
The 20 euro and 50 euro notes continue to be the most forged (together 82,5% of all discovered fakes). The 100 euro banknote was the third-most counterfeited denomination (13%). A complete breakdown of the numbers:
"When compared with the number of genuine euro banknotes in circulation (on average 14.9 billion during the second half of 2012), the proportion of counterfeits remains very low" according to the ECB.
The majority (97.5%) of counterfeits recovered in the second half of 2012 were found in euro area countries, with only around 2% being found in EU Member States outside the euro area and 0.5% being found in other parts of the world.
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