Figures from the European Central Bank (ECB) indicate that the pandemic had an impact on the amount of counterfeit euro banknotes in circulation last year.

The ECB says 460,000 counterfeit euro notes were withdrawn in 2020, down almost 18% from 2019.

There are more than 25 billion euro banknotes in circulation, and the 2020 figure represents 17 per one million genuine notes, a record low.

About two-thirds of the total withdrawn were €20 and €50 banknotes.

Easy to detect

Almost 95% of counterfeits were found in euro area countries, with the remainder divided almost equally between non-euro EU member states and other parts of the world.

The ECB says all low-quality reproductions are easy to detect as they have no security features, or only very poor imitations of them.

The bank says notes can be checked using the “feel, look and tilt” method described in the dedicated section of the ECB’s website and on the websites of the national central banks.