Fake euro seizures rise by 8% - European Central Bank

Thursday 21st January 2010

The number of fake euro banknotes seized in the second half of 2009 rose by 8% from the first half of the year, the European Central Bank said today, continuing a steady increase since late 2007.

'In the second half of 2009 a total of 447,000 counterfeit euro banknotes were withdrawn from circulation,' an ECB statement said.

The rise was still slower than in the first half of 2009, when the central bank reported a 17% jump in the number of seized counterfeit notes.

'The proportion of counterfeits is still very low,' the statement said, when compared with roughly 12.8 billion genuine banknotes in circulation.

Fake notes of mid-level value were again the most often seized, with €20 bills representing 47% of the total. Almost all of those found, 98%, comprised of €20, €50 and €100 banknotes.

Spanish police, nonetheless, said on August 21 that they had recovered almost €9m worth of fake €500 bills, a European Union record for notes of this denomination.