The counterfeit market is also regaining momentum. Affected by 2020, the most severe year in terms of restrictions for Covid-19, the counterfeiting business resumed its speedy march in 2021 with signs of acceleration also in 2022. And, above all, it is now a typical phenomenon of channels online. The data from the Ministry of Economic Development and Censis will be presented in these days during the Anti-Counterfeiting Week organized by the Dg for the protection of industrial property-Patent and Trademark Office of the ministry.
In 2021 the seizures carried out in Italy by the Customs Agency and the Guardia di Finanza, net of food products, were 14,309, an increase of 63% compared to the previous year, with approximately 31 million pieces seized (+ 87% ), for an estimated economic value of the quantity seized which amounts to 56.5 million (+ 45%).
The sectors most affected and the Regions in the front row
The items most seized were the material for packaging and labeling of the products, the masks as protection against Covid-19, clothing and its accessories, toys, footwear and electrical equipment. Lombardy is the region with the highest budget for the number of seizures (3,297, i.e. 23% of the total) while Tuscany totals the largest quantity of goods (8 million equal to 27% overall) and the largest economic value ( 16 million, 28% of the total).
The run of fakes on online channels
Covid-19 has caused the online counterfeit market to surge, 44% of consumers who were already shopping on the internet during the health emergency have increased their frequency and 5.7% have started to do so. 25.7% of “e-consumers” came across at least once the offer of fake goods on the web and 20.3% bought fake products, for a total of 8.3 million buyers, of which only 1.8 million did so knowingly, while the other 6 and a half million were convinced they were buying an original product.
The weight of purchases by young people
There is an evident problem of awareness especially in the young segment of the population, the one most present on social media. From a recent survey by the Euipo Observatory, on about 22 thousand young people aged between 15 and 24 in the 27 EU member states, it emerges that 27% of young people in Italy (compared to 37% in the EU) have intentionally purchased a counterfeit product and 24% (21% in the EU) have accessed pirated content in a conscious way.