In the UK, 11.6% of sector’s direct sales are lost annually due to presence of counterfeit products.
A new report has shown that toys and games manufacturers across the European Union lose approximately €1.4 billion each year due to the presence of counterfeit products.
12.3% of sales in the EU toys and games sector is lost due to counterfeiting. Those lost sales translate into 6,150 jobs, as legitimate manufacturers employ fewer people than they would have done in the absence of counterfeiting.
The OHIM report also shows that, when the direct and indirect effects of counterfeiting in the toys and games manufacturing sector are taken into account, €370 million in government revenue is lost across the EU, in terms of lost VAT, income tax, social security contributions and tax on company profits.
Germany is the largest producer of games and toys in the EU, accounting for 40% (€2.7 billion) of total EU production in 2012. The presence of counterfeit toys and games costs the German manufacturing sector €327 million every year, corresponding to 10.9% of the value of production.
The country ranks first among EU countries for sales and jobs lost.
In the UK, 11.6% of the sector’s direct sales are lost annually (£174.2 million). It is the second highest absolute impact in the EU due to counterfeiting in this sector (after Germany).
In Spain, 16.6% of the sector’s direct sales are lost annually (€167 million), in Italy, 15.6% of the sector’s direct sales are lost annually (€201 million), while in France, 11.6% of the sector’s direct sales are lost annually (€168 million).
