Fall in amount of counterfeit euro cash withdrawn from circulation

The total value of counterfeit euro cash withdrawn from circulation last year in Slovenia fell by almost half compared with the previous year. The fall was primarily the result of a decline in the number of counterfeit banknotes, while the number of counterfeit euro coins was higher than in the previous year. Slovenia thus ranks among the more successful countries in dealing with the issue of counterfeit cash.

While counterfeit banknotes and coins worth more than EUR 720,000 were withdrawn from circulation in 2017, the figure fell to EUR 374,000 last year. The number of counterfeit euro banknotes withdrawn from circulation was down almost a half on 2017, while the number of counterfeit euro coins was up just under 40%. The most commonly counterfeited banknotes are the 20, 50- and 500-euro notes, while the most commonly counterfeited coin is the 2-euro. The Eurosystem figures in this area rank Slovenia in the lower half of countries in terms of the number of counterfeits discovered.