In 2023, Cyprus witnessed the withdrawal of 642 counterfeit euro banknotes of various denominations from circulation, as announced by the Central Bank of Cyprus (CBC).

The CBC's annual bulletin on euro banknote counterfeiting revealed that this figure marks a 42.4% increase from 2022. The bulletin noted that the €20 note was most frequently counterfeited in Cyprus, comprising 41.7% of the total.

The CBC emphasized that, despite this increase, the quantity of counterfeit notes remains very low in comparison to the number of genuine euro banknotes in circulation.

Although the number of counterfeit euro banknotes is relatively small, the CBC advises the public to remain vigilant and carefully inspect banknotes during cash transactions.

Furthermore, the European Central Bank reported that around 467,000 counterfeit euro banknotes were withdrawn from circulation across Europe in 2023. This represents a 24.2% increase compared to 2022, a year that saw exceptionally low numbers of counterfeit notes due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The €50 and €20 notes continued to be the most counterfeited banknotes, together accounting for 72.4% of all counterfeits. According to the CBC, 97.2% of these counterfeits were found in euro area countries, 1.9% in non-euro area EU member states, and 0.9% in other parts of the world.

The CBC concludes by stating that both the Central Bank of Cyprus and the European Central Bank provide resources on their websites to help the public identify genuine euro banknotes.