The number of counterfeit euro notes withdrawn from circulation in the second half of 2013 has risen again, marking a few years of increases, the European Central Bank reported.

However, the figure of 353,000 (up 11.4 per cent on the first half of 2013) is still a very small percentage of the 15 billion notes in circulation.

The ECB said that 78 per cent of the counterfeits were €20 and €50 notes. The vast majority of counterfeits – 98 per cent – were found within the eurozone. A new €10 note was unveiled this week, which will be put into circulation in September 2014. It incorporates the latest technology to make it more durable as well as harder to counterfeit. Like the new €5 note launched in May 2013, it includes a portrait of Europa in the hologram and watermark. In addition, it will have an emerald number, which will change to deep blue when tilted.

In the second half of 2013, the number of counterfeit euro banknotes reported to the Central Bank of Malta amounted to 874, practically equivalent to the amount found in the first half of that year. This brought the total number of counterfeits withdrawn from circulation for the whole of 2013 to 1,751, a 5.2 per cent increase on the previous year’s level of 1,664 counterfeits.