50 euro bills are the most counterfeited

In the entire euro area, 376,000 counterfeit banknotes were seized in 2022. These figures come from the counterfeit statistics published yesterday by the European Central Bank.

The use of cash in Austria remains at a high level. During the same period, the estimated number of banknotes in circulation rose by eight percent to around 585 million.

The 50 euro bills are most frequently counterfeited in Austria with a share of 44.8 percent. This is followed by the 20 and 100 euro banknotes. The damage caused by counterfeiting in Austria amounted to 244,405 euros, a decrease of 10.3 percent compared to the previous year.