BERLIN, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- Around 55,200 counterfeit banknotes worth 3.3 million euros (3.6 million U.S. dollars) were detected in 2019, the German central bank Deutsche Bundesbank announced on Friday.
According to Deutsche Bundesbank, the number of detected counterfeit banknotes fell by 5 percent compared to the previous year. For every 10,000 inhabitants in Germany, around 7 counterfeit banknotes had been found in 2019.
The reason for the decreasing number of counterfeit banknotes in circulation was the "introduction of new banknotes of the Europa series with improved counterfeit protection," said Johannes Beermann, member of the Executive Board of the Deutsche Bundesbank.
"In particular, the number of 50-euro counterfeits has decreased significantly," stressed Beermann.
Between 2018 and 2019, the share of 50-euro counterfeit banknotes dropped from 72 to 56 percent, according to the Deutsche Bundesbank.
The number of counterfeit coins on the other hand went up. In 2019, around 42,100 counterfeit coins were used and detected in payment transactions in Germany. In 2018, the number of such coins was only around 33,100.
