Figures released by the National Bank of Belgium on Monday show that last year 12,016 forged euro banknotes were intercepted here in Belgium. The is 24% of the number intercepted during 2021. 20- and 50-euro notes are the banknotes most often copied by forgers. Around 70% of the forged notes intercepted in Belgium are 20- or 50-euro notes.
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More than 12,000 forged banknotes intercepted in Belgium last year
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The National Bank of Belgium is keen to point out that the number of forged notes in circulation is tiny in comparison with the number of genuine notes. Furthermore, forgeries are usually relatively easy to spot.
Although the number of forged banknotes intercepted in Belgium is down, worldwide the number of false euro banknotes intercepted worldwide increased by 8.4% to 376,000 in 2022. The European Central Bank says that the increase is due to an increase in economic activity following the coronavirus crisis.
In the Eurozone as a whole, for every 1,000,000 euro banknotes in circulation there were an estimated 13 forgeries in 2022. This is down from an estimated 48 per million in 2015.