Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann has spoken out in favour of eliminating the red tape involved in setting up a business. At a speech in Düsseldorf, Mr Weidmann pointed out that “reforms to make it easier for start-ups to enter the market would also enhance competition and spur innovative power.”

Carl-Ludwig Thiele, Mitglied des Vorstands der Deutschen Bundesbank, Begrüßung zum Zahlungsverkehrs-Symposium der Bundesbank

The Bundesbank registered approximately 55,200 counterfeit euro banknotes with a value of €3.3 million in 2019, representing a 5% decrease on the year.

Brisk industrial activity kept Germany’s economy on a strongly expansionary path in the third quarter of 2017, and growth looks set to remain buoyant in the fourth quarter. The Bundesbank’s experts, writing in the latest Monthly Report, put this assessment down to the record-high sentiment in trade and industry, the excellent order situation in industry, and what remains a high level of consumer confidence.

The German economy got off to a good start in 2019. Real gross domestic product (GDP) in the first quarter of 2019 was up 0.4% on the quarter. However, one-off effects played an important role in this, as revealed by the Bundesbank’s latest Monthly Report.

In the first half of 2019, the Bundesbank recorded approximately 27,600 counterfeit euro banknotes with a nominal value of €1.6 million. Thus, although the incidence of counterfeiting was up compared to the second half of 2018, it is still low overall.

Germany's economy grew strongly at the start of 2016, the Bundesbank writes in its latest Monthly Report. Exports had recovered from a lull to join private consumption and construction activity in propelling activity.

In the first half of 2018, the Bundesbank recorded approximately 31,100 counterfeit euro banknotes with a nominal value of €1.8 million. The number of counterfeits fell by 6.2 % compared with the second half of 2017. Statistically, this equates to around seven counterfeit banknotes for every 10,000 inhabitants per year

In 2017, the Bundesbank registered approximately 73,000 counterfeit euro banknotes with a nominal value of €4.1 million, which represents an 11% decrease year on year. Statistically, this equates to nine counterfeit banknotes per 10,000 inhabitants.

In 2018, the Bundesbank identified approximately 58,000 counterfeit euro banknotes with a nominal value of €3.4 million, representing a 20% decrease on the previous year.

Die Europäische Zentralbank, Europol und die Europäische Kommission veranstalteten vom 24. bis 27. März 2015 gemeinsam die dritte internationale Konferenz zum Schutz des Euro gegen Geldfälschung. Dabei handelte es sich um die erste Veranstaltung dieser Art, die am neuen Standort der EZB stattfand.

In the first half of 2018, the Bundesbank registered approximately 31,100 counterfeit euro banknotes with a nominal value of €1.8 million – 6.2% fewer than in the previous six months. The most frequently counterfeited denomination was the €50 banknote.

In 2017, the Bundesbank registered around 73,000 counterfeit euro banknotes with a nominal value of €4.1 million – 11% fewer than in the previous year. The number of counterfeit €20 banknotes declined in particular.

In the first half of 2017, the Bundesbank registered approximately 39,700 counterfeit euro banknotes with a nominal value of €2.2 million. The number of counterfeits rose by 8.7% compared with the second half of 2016. Statistically, this equates to around ten counterfeit banknotes per 10,000 inhabitants in Germany per year.

In the first half of 2017, the Bundesbank registered around 39,700 counterfeit euro banknotes with a nominal value of €2.2 million – 8.7% more than in the second half of 2016. The most frequently counterfeited denomination was the €50 banknote.

In 2016, the Deutsche Bundesbank registered approximately 82,200 counterfeit euro banknotes with a nominal value of €4.2 million, which represents a 14 % decrease year on year. Statistically, this equates to ten counterfeit banknotes per 10,000 inhabitants.

Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann believes that abolishing cash is not the right means of stimulating the sluggish economy in some euro-area countries. At the Bundesbank’s payments symposium, Weidmann stated that the decisive factor was to address weak economic growth.