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The European Central Bank (ECB) has released its banknote counterfeit figures for the second half of 2014, showing an increase in the number of fake banknotes withdrawn from circulation.

507 thousand counterfeit banknotes were removed, an increase of 53% compared to the first half of 2014 and an increase of 44% compared to the same period in 2013. However, the ratio of counterfeit banknotes to authentic banknotes in circulation remains small, at 0.003%.

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The majority of counterfeit banknotes were €20 and €50 denominations, and the vast majority (97.5%) of all counterfeits were found in euro area countries.

The ECB has begun to release the new Europa series of banknotes, the second design since the euro was introduced in 2002. To date, the €5 and €10 banknotes have been released (in 2013 and 2014 respectively) and the remaining denominations will be changed gradually during the next few years.

The new banknote designs contain modern security features aimed at reducing counterfeit banknotes from circulating, such as SICPA‘s SPARK feature, hologram stripe and patch, magnetics and fluorescence.

To read the full ECB press release on counterfeits click here.

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