A total of 17,400 counterfeit euro banknotes were withdrawn from circulation in the Netherlands in 2023, which is the lowest number on record and a reduction by more than half (54%) of the 2022 level.
© DNB
The €50 note is still the most frequently found counterfeit note in the Netherlands, but its number has been steadily declining since 2015 (see the orange line in the graph). Some possible explanations for this are the declining use of cash, observant retailers checking notes for authenticity, and increased attention from the police and law enforcement authorities in fighting this form of crime. Likewise, fewer counterfeit €100 and €200 euro notes were withdrawn from circulation in 2023. The peak seen in 2022 was mainly due to a limited number of scam cases involving fake notes of very low quality.
|
2015 |
2016 |
2017 |
2018 |
2019 |
2020 |
2021 |
2022 |
2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
66.500 |
47.200 |
43.200 |
38.900 |
38.900 |
25.500 |
26.000 |
38.200 |
17.400 |
In 2023 the number of counterfeits worldwide was 467,000. The odds of the public and retailers finding a counterfeit banknote are very small. There are a total of 30 billion genuine euro notes in circulation worldwide. Euro banknotes are well protected against counterfeiting thanks to their security features such as the watermark and the hologram. They can be easily distinguished from counterfeit ones using the feel, look and tilt method. Also, retailers increasingly check euro banknotes using authentication devices certified by the European Central Bank. For more information on how to check whether banknotes are genuine, go to our web page. Careful checks ensure that suspect banknotes are promptly detected. This can prevent criminals from paying with counterfeit notes and causing recipients to suffer a financial loss.
For more information, please contact Tobias Oudejans at +31 20 524 3100 or
+31 6 524 96 961.
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