Bulgaria Sees Surge in Counterfeit 20-BGN Notes in Early 2025

In the first quarter of 2025, the 20-BGN banknote has overtaken the 100-BGN note as the most frequently counterfeited denomination in Bulgaria, according to the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB). Between January and March, authorities seized 42 counterfeit 20-BGN notes, while 31 fake 100-BGN notes were detected. Overall, the BNB reported 121 counterfeit banknotes during this period, marking a decrease compared to the same quarter last year when 225 counterfeits were found.

Additionally, the BNB registered 28 counterfeit 500-BGN notes and 15 fake 10-BGN notes in the first three months of the year. In contrast, 2024 saw a record number of counterfeit 100-BGN notes, with 635 fakes found, a sharp increase compared to only 7 in 2023 and 14 in 2022.

The most frequently counterfeited banknotes last year were the so-called stotlevki—100-BGN notes—with a total of 1,229 fake bills discovered. Although this represented a decline from 2023, when 1,992 counterfeit notes were detected, it was still higher than the 832 found in 2022.

As of the end of March 2025, there were 583,712,210 banknotes in circulation in Bulgaria, a slight increase of 0.22% year-on-year (from 582,453,492). The most circulated denomination remains the 50-BGN note, with 240,100,719 pieces in use. This is followed by 147,419,690 of the 100-BGN notes and 88,473,498 of the 20-BGN notes.

In terms of total value, the banknotes in circulation amounted to BGN 29.43 billion at the end of March, up 4.15% from BGN 28.25 billion in March 2024, according to the BNB’s latest data.