Brussels, 12/01/2009 (Agence Europe) - In the second half of 2008, total of 354,000 counterfeit euro banknotes were withdrawn from circulation. This is an increase of around 13% on the quantity recovered in the previous six months. This information was published by the European Central Bank (ECB) on Monday 12 January. The Bank says that, since the number of genuine euro banknotes in circulation is also increasing (averaging over 12 billion during the second half of 2008), “the scale of counterfeiting remains small”. However, the Eurosystem, i.e. the European Central Bank (ECB) and the 16 national central banks of the euro area, advises the public to be alert and to check the authenticity of the banknotes that they receive. Historically, the €50 has been the most counterfeited banknote, but in the second half of 2008 the most counterfeited banknote was the €20 (43% of all denominations). The three mid-range denominations (€20, €50 and €100) together accounted for about 94% of all counterfeits. The majority (98%) of counterfeits recovered in the second half of 2008 were found in euro area countries, with approximately only 1% being found in EU Member States outside the euro area and the remaining 1% in other parts of the world. (L.C./transl.rt)