The number remained small fakes euro banknotes which they withdrew since launching last year, though Increased compared to 2022.

In more detail, according to the data of the European Central Bank, approx 467,000 fakes Euro banknotes were withdrawn from circulation on 2023.

THE chance for the trader to receive a counterfeit banknote is too much smallas the number of counterfeit banknotes remains low compared to the number of genuine euro banknotes in circulation.

In 2023 they were spotted 16 fakes per million of genuine euro banknotes in circulation. This is one of the lowest ratios since the introduction of euro banknotes into circulation.

Although the ratio is very small, the actual number of counterfeit banknotes has increased compared to 2022, when the number of counterfeit banknotes was extremely low after the COVID-19 pandemic. In any case, the number of counterfeit banknotes remained lower than in the years preceding the pandemic.

The €20 and €50 banknotes continued to record the highest counterfeiting rates. These two denominations together accounted for more than 70% of all counterfeit banknotes. 97.2% of counterfeit banknotes were detected in euro area countries, while 1.9% were detected in non-euro area EU Member States and 0.9% in other parts of the world.

Most counterfeit banknotes are easy to detect because the security features are either non-existent or very poor imitations. There is no reason to worry about counterfeit banknotes, but we should be vigilant. The authenticity of banknotes can be easily verified by the three-check method (‘touch check, visual check and angle check’) described on the dedicated website for security features and on the websites of the national central banks of the euro area .