More counterfeit euro banknotes were withdrawn from circulation in the Netherlands in 2022 than in the previous year. A total of 38,200 were found, 47% more than in 2021. This increase is mainly due to a limited number of fraud cases involving counterfeit euro banknotes of very low quality. Worldwide, some 376,000 counterfeit euro banknotes were detected, representing an 8% increase over 2021.
Table 1: Counterfeit euro banknotes recovered from circulation
|
|
2017 |
2018 |
2019 |
2020 |
2021 |
2022 |
|
Netherlands |
43,200 |
38,900 |
38,900 |
25,500 |
26,000 |
38,200 |
|
Worldwide |
694,000 |
563,000 |
559,000 |
460,000 |
347,000 |
376,000 |
In the Netherlands, the increase can almost entirely be attributed to counterfeit €100 and €200 notes (see Chart 1). Large batches of counterfeit notes of very low quality were found in several fraud cases. These cases aside, the Netherlands has been on a downward trend. For example, the number of counterfeit €50 notes has been decreasing since 2015, even though this denomination is the most frequently counterfeited worldwide (see Table 2).
Table 2: Breakdown of counterfeits by denomination in 2022
(% of all recovered counterfeits)
|
|
EUR 5 |
EUR 10 |
EUR 20 |
EUR 50 |
EUR 100 |
EUR 200 |
EUR 500 |
|
Netherlands |
0.3% |
2.4% |
12.2% |
28.9% |
20.9% |
30.7% |
4.6% |
|
Worldwide |
2.3% |
15.4% |
23.6% |
40.0% |
11.6% |
5.4% |
1.7% |
The odds of being given a counterfeit banknote are very small. There are a total of 29 billion genuine euro notes in circulation worldwide. Euro banknotes are well protected against counterfeiting thanks to their security features such as watermark and hologram. It only takes a few seconds to check a euro note for authenticity. In recent years, the proportion of very low-quality counterfeits has been increasing in the Netherlands (see Chart 2). With a few simple checks they are easy to detect as they have no security features, or only very poor imitations of them. In 2022, two in three (66%) counterfeit notes found in the Netherlands were of this very low quality.
Many retailers have detection devices to check banknotes for authenticity. Consumers can use a special DNB app on their smartphones to check banknotes. More information on authenticity checking can be found at Counterfeit banknotes │De Nederlandsche Bank (dnb.nl). 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 Dorinde Meuzelaar on +31 (0)6 519 63 073.
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