Nine percent of Europeans and seven percent of Croatians have been misled into buying counterfeit products, according to a survey released by the EU Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) on Tuesday.

The survey on intellectual property showed that consumers in the EU find it difficult to distinguish between genuine and fake products.

Nearly one in ten Europeans claimed they were misled into buying counterfeits, but there were considerable differences between EU member states: 19 percent of Bulgarians, 16 percent of Romanians, and 15 percent of Hungarians said they were deceived, compared to only 2 percent of Swedes and 3 percent of Danes.

Croatia was below the EU average, with 7 percent of its citizens saying they were misled into buying counterfeit products.

According to Eurostat, over 70 percent of Europeans shopped online in 2020, and uncertainty regarding counterfeit products has become a growing concern for consumer protection, the study showed.

Counterfeit products represent 6.8 percent of EU imports, worth €121 billion. They impact every sector, from cosmetics and toys, wine and beverages, electronics and clothing, to pesticides and pharmaceutical products. They pose serious risks to the health and safety of citizens as they usually do not comply with quality and safety standards.

Worldwide trade in counterfeit pharmaceutical products has been estimated at €4 billion, the study said. Digital piracy also represents a highly lucrative market for infringers – just in the area of internet protocol television (IPTV), €1 billion of unlawful revenue is generated every year by the supply and consumption of copyright-infringing digital content in the EU, harming creators and legitimate businesses.

Counterfeiting affects not only consumers, but it also causes considerable damage to the EU economy, notably small and medium enterprises (SMEs). One in four SMEs and 21.7 percent of SMEs in Croatia said they suffered damage on account of intellectual property rights infringement, according to the study.