Every year 15,000 jobs are lost in Spain due to counterfeiting in the toy, cosmetics and clothing (clothing and footwear) sector. These are the results of a study by Euipo (European Union Intellectual Property Office), a European agency based in Alicante, which was made public today, Tuesday. In the case of Germany, almost 40,000 jobs are destroyed and it is the most affected country in Europe.
When it comes to examining the economic cost of counterfeits, Spain loses an average income of 1,511 million euros each year (the bulk coming from clothing) and is the fourth most affected EU State, behind Germany, France and Italy. . In terms of percentage of sales, the toy sector is the one that suffers the most: 11% of sales go to the illegal channel.
Of the 15,044 jobs lost in Spain, 11,208 are in the clothing and clothing sector, 3,601 in cosmetics and the remaining 235 in toys.
At European level, the scourge of illegal copies in these sectors represents a hole of 16 billion euros and almost 200,000 jobs a year. The agency not only regrets the economic damage to the business sector, but also recalls that this parallel industry can have “serious consequences for the health and safety of consumers.” These products represent 15% of counterfeit items seized in the EU.
According to Euipo, a third of Europeans consider it acceptable to buy counterfeits when the price of the authentic product is too high. Among young people, this percentage rises to 50%.
Figures in hand, the executive director of Euipo, the Portuguese João Negrão, assures that “counterfeits represent a real cost, both for consumers, for brands and for the economy.”
