Brussels, 22/07/2016 (Agence Europe) - In a press release published on Friday 22 July, the European Central Bank announced a drop in the counterfeiting of euro banknotes in the first half of 2016.
During this period, some 331,000 forged notes were withdrawn from circulation, representing a drop of 25% compared to the second half of 2015. The ECB explains that this figure is very low in terms of the increasing volume of genuine notes in circulation (more than 18.5 billion in the first half of 2016).
€20 and €50 notes continue to be the most-forged denominations. Compared to the figures for the second half of 2015, the share of counterfeit €20 notes has fallen and that of forged €50 notes has risen. The total proportion of these two denominations out of total counterfeit notes stood at 79.8%. The ECB goes on to state that the vast majority (97.6%) of forged notes were seized in Eurozone countries. Just 1.7% were detected in non-Eurozone EU member states and less than 0.7% in other parts of the world. The new €50 note, with innovative security features, will be launched on 4 April 2017. (Original version in French by Élodie Lamer)