444,000 counterfeit euro banknotes were withdrawn from circulation in 2025, according to the European Central Bank. This is a decrease of more than 20% compared with 2024, and a reversal of the trend which had seen numbers climb since 2021. In terms of the counterfeiting ratio, for 2025 it was 14 ppm, compared with 18 ppm the previous year.

On 11 February 2026, Europol announced that Operation DECOY III prevented an estimated €1.2 billion counterfeit banknotes and coins from entering circulation. This was a joint operation between customs and police organisations that were targeting criminal networks distributing fake currency through the post.

The Banque de France (BdF), in partnership with the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO), organised an international seminar on 23–26 September 2025 in Paris dedicated to fighting currency counterfeiting.

At the High Security Printing™ Asia conference in Bangkok last December, currency and counterfeit expert Aleksei Faleev gave a presentation on a survey conducted among cashiers in Kyrgyzstan to gauge their knowledge of and preferences for banknote security features. He has subsequently written this article based on that presentation.

Last month we reported on the 2024 counterfeit figures for the euro. This month is the turn of coins, with figures from the European Commission detailing a sharp increase in the number of counterfeits in 2023 (the most recent year on which it has reported) to 480,371 – up 62% compared to 2022 and the highest level by far since the introduction of the euro in 2002.

In the December issue of Currency News™ I wrote on whether note issuers are keeping ahead of the counterfeits, with an update on the latest counterfeiting data, using as one of the data points the ppm metric (parts per million, ie. the number of counterfeits detected versus the number of genuine notes in circulation). The following month, Duncan Reid wrote about the shortcomings of the ppm as a metric. It is great that the topic has raised debate, and Duncan’s article provides the few interesting viewpoints, which Currency News has invited me to comment on.

Due to its relative ubiquity, ppm serves as a useful means of comparing trends both within and between countries. But as a metric it has its shortcomings. This article examines some of those shortcomings and proposes an alternative method based on the number of banknotes used for cash transactions.

Most central banks will classify their counterfeit banknotes to determine the types of threats presented by the counterfeiters. This may be as simple as identifying the printing processes on the counterfeit as digital or traditional. Or it could be an in-depth analysis of the individual characteristics of the printed image along with the security feature simulations.

€11 million sophisticated counterfeiting print shop dismantled in Naples.

Counterfeit deterrence requires a three-pronged approach. Banknote design security, public education and law enforcement.