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Counterfeit bags and t-shirts, fake perfumes, glasses “copied” from big brands. The burden of fake products in Europe reaches 16 billion euros per year, leading to a loss of around 200 thousand jobs in the clothing, cosmetics and toy industries. In Italy, however, the loss of turnover is 1.7 billion per year and 19 thousand jobs. The data comes from a study by Euipo, the European Union intellectual property office, on data relating to the three-year period 2018-2021.
Fashion loses 12 billion in revenues in Europe
The clothing industry is the one most penalized by counterfeit products: lost revenues, in fact, amount to 12 billion euros every year, equal to 5.2% of fashion turnover in Europe. Even in terms of job losses, fashion has set a negative record: 160 thousand. Overall, however, the loss of revenue in the cosmetics sector due to counterfeit products is 3 billion euros and that of toys is one billion.
Italy, France and Germany are among the most affected countries
Italy is among the countries that suffer the most significant damage – with over 24 thousand jobs lost, of which 19 thousand in fashion – together with Germany, which is particularly affected by toy counterfeiting with 334 million lost sales (one third of the total ), to France, where the damage is mainly concentrated in cosmetics with 800 million in lost sales, Spain and Austria. Looking at the proportion between lost revenues and overall sales, however, in the clothing sector the most affected countries are Cyprus (10.7%), Ireland (10.2%), Luxembourg (9.2%), Lithuania (9.1%). ) and Estonia (8.7%).
«Counterfeit goods present real costs to consumers, manufacturing companies and our economies. This latest study shows the consistency of those costs in terms of lost revenues and jobs lost in the EU”, commented Euipo executive director João Negrão.
One in two young people: yes to fakes if the original costs too much
The role of this type of report is also to influence the perception that end consumers have of counterfeit products. A perception that in one case out of three is not negative: according to the study on the perception of IP conducted by Euipo in June 2023, a third of Europeans consider it acceptable to buy counterfeit goods when the price of the original product is too high. The percentage rises to 50% among young people.