The biannual information on euro banknote counterfeiting shows that the overall quantity of counterfeits withdrawn from circulation in 2011 was 19.3% lower compared with the figures for 2010. In addition, the European Central Bank also announced that the number of monetary financial institutions in the euro area and in the EU decreased further in 2011.

The European Central Bank has published its biannual information on euro banknote counterfeiting. The report shows that in the second half of 2011 a total of 310,000 counterfeit euro banknotes were withdrawn from circulation. The ECB also assured that when compared with the number of genuine euro banknotes in circulation (on average 14.4 billion during the second half of 2011), the proportion of counterfeits remains very low. This means that the overall quantity of counterfeits withdrawn from circulation in 2011 was 19.3% lower compared with the figures for 2010. At the same time, there was an increase of 4.7% as regards the quantity recovered in the second half of 2011 compared with the previous six months. In May, a joint operation Europol and Bulgarian Police seized half a million fake euros.

With regard to the most counterfeited banknotes, the €20 and €50 denominations continue to be the most ones. During the past six months, the share of counterfeit €20 banknotes increased and the share of counterfeit €50 banknotes decreased. The two most counterfeited denominations together accounted for 80.0% of the total during the second half of 2011. The €100 banknote is the third most counterfeited denomination. On the other hand, the majority (97.5%) of counterfeits recovered in the second half of 2011 were found in euro area countries, with only around 2.0% being found in EU Member States outside the euro area and 0.5% being found in other parts of the world.

The European Central Bank (ECB) also announced that on 1 January 2012 the total number of monetary financial institutions (MFIs) in the euro area stood at 7,533. This is a net decrease of 332 units (4%) in comparison with the situation a year ago. With a few minor exceptions, the decline was spread across the whole of the euro area. There were 9,587 MFIs in the European Union (EU) as a whole, a net decrease of 334 units.