Counterfeit goods are costing the economy double what they did in 2015, reaching €82 million last year, a new report has found.
According to the EU’s Intellectual Property Office, fake goods are also costing just shy of 600 Maltese jobs.
The Customs Department said that the €82 million in lost sales was calculated across 13 types of products – and worked out to just over 10 per cent of total sales.
The IPO figures were published earlier this month as part of a comprehensive review of the estimated impact that the sale of counterfeit products had across the 28 Member States.
According to the EU office the economic loss across the EU is estimated at a staggering €59 billion.
Fake goods are also costing just shy of 600 Maltese jobs
The sectors analysed were cosmetics and personal care, clothing, footwear and accessories, sports goods, toys and games, jewellery and watches, handbags, recorded music, spirits and wine, and pharmaceuticals.
Every year, an additional €35 billion is also lost due to the indirect effects of counterfeiting and piracy in these sectors, as manufacturers buy fewer goods and services from suppliers, causing knock-on effects in other areas.
The lost sales translate into close to 500,000 jobs lost directly or not created across these EU sectors, as legitimate manufacturers and in some cases distributors of corresponding products employ fewer people than they would have in the absence of counterfeiting and piracy.
When the knock-on effect of counterfeits on other sectors is taken into account, an additional 290,000 jobs have been lost elsewhere in the EU economy.
According to the EU office, the overall picture from the study is clear – counterfeiting and piracy have a negative effect on the EU economy and job creation.
The bulk of the lost sales in Malta came from counterfeit clothing – nearly €50 million worth last year. A further €22 million was lost from cosmetics and pharmaceutical sales due to fakes.
How much contraband makes its way into Malta?
According to Customs, a record 20 million fake items were seized last year at the Malta Freeport alone.
The Customs Department warned that although many people did not consider counterfeiting to be a real problem, this criminal activity funded criminal organisations, also promoting child labour and human trafficking.