In 2022, the Bundesbank registered approximately 44,100 counterfeit euro banknotes with a nominal value of €2.7 million in German payments. The number of counterfeits was thus up by 5.2% on the year.

In the first half of 2023, the Bundesbank withdrew approximately 26,700 counterfeit euro banknotes with a nominal value of just under €2.9 million from circulation in Germany. This was 10% more counterfeit banknotes than in the second half of 2022. The number of counterfeit €200 and €500 banknotes rose in particular. “The incidence of counterfeit banknotes is still low, however. Statistically speaking, there were six counterfeit banknotes per 10,000 inhabitants,” stated Burkhard Balz, the Bundesbank Executive Board member responsible for cash management.

Die Bundesbank hat im Jahr 2021 rund 42.000 falsche Euro-Banknoten im Nennwert von 1,9 Millionen Euro registriert. Das entspricht einem Rückgang von 28,6 Prozent gegenüber dem Vorjahr. Der Rückgang sei auf die verminderten Absatzmöglichkeiten für die Hersteller und Verbreiter von Falschgeld zurückzuführen, erläuterte Bundesbankvorstand Johannes Beermann.

In the first half of 2022, around 19,800 counterfeit euro banknotes with a nominal value of just under €1 million were withdrawn from circulation in Germany. The number of counterfeits fell by 3.9% compared with the second half of 2021. This equates to five counterfeit banknotes per 10,000 inhabitants.

In 2021, the Bundesbank registered approximately 42,000 counterfeit euro banknotes with a nominal value of €1.9 million in German payments. The number of counterfeits thus fell by 28.6% on the year, and the nominal value of the banknotes seized decreased by 34.5%. 

Information about recognition and handling of false suspicious money.