Every year, the European Commission jointly with the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) publish a report describing the customs seizures of articles suspected of infringing intellectual property rights (IPR) such as trademarks, designs, copyrights, and patents. The main findings of 2023 report are presented on this page.
Scope and value
Approximately 152 million counterfeit goods were detained at the EU external border and in the internal market in 2023, according to a joint report published by the EUIPO and the Commission on 13 November 2024. The estimated value of these goods is €3.4 billion, a 68% increase from 2022.
The most common counterfeit products detained in the EU were games, toys, recorded CDs/DVDs, labels/tags/stickers and packaging material, together accounting for nearly three-quarters of all detained products. Infringers attempted to avoid detection by shipping cheap packaging materials separately from the valuable, unbranded goods and assembling them within the EU.
Regarding the detentions at the EU border, these increased by 7 % in 2023. However, despite this growth, the total number of detained articles decreased from over 24 million in 2022 to 17.5 million in 2023 (representing a 27 % reduction), reaching the lowest level in the past decade. Similarly, the estimated value of detained goods at the EU border decreased by 14 % in 2023 to EUR 811 million (relative to approximately EUR 943 million in 2022).
The trend over the last four years shows a gradual overall decline of detained articles at the EU border. For 2023, the decrease of detained articles and a shift towards articles of lower value resulted in a drop of the global estimated value of the detentions.
Source and destination
Ten EU countries (Italy, France, Romania, Spain, Netherlands, Bulgaria, Germany, Hungary, Belgium, and Greece) accounted for almost 98 % of the total number of fake items detained in the EU in 2023.
When it comes to EU border enforcement only, ten Member States accounted for almost 91 % of the total of cases and over 88 % of the total number of articles detained. Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain appear in the top 10 both in terms of number of detention cases and number of counterfeit goods detained.
As in previous years, China continues to be the main source of counterfeit goods entering the EU. Hong Kong and Türkiye follow closely behind, with the most detained categories being labels/tags/stickers and clothing. Postal and express courier services remain the most common means of transport for these goods, highlighting the need for increased vigilance in these areas.
Report
The report is based on figures provided by police, customs and market surveillance authorities from EU countries in 2023. It is published by DG TAXUD and the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) and offers a unique insight into the efforts of EU enforcers to protect intellectual property rights (IPR) at both the EU border and in the internal market.
The report also illustrates the scale and scope of IPR infringement in the EU. This enables policymakers to substantiate their priorities and policies with evidence-based information while allowing enforcement authorities to develop targeted countermeasures to combat the issue.
Previous reports
EU enforcement of intellectual property rights – 2022
EU enforcement of intellectual property rights – 2021