Cyprus Mail 25 September 2020 - by Annette Chrysostomou
File photo: A company logo is pictured outside a Gucci store in Vienna
Despite its small population, Cyprus made it into 18th place on the list of European countries most interested in fake designer goods with 29,880 internet searches last year, online marketplace Onbuy.com reported.
“Paphos, Limassol, Ayia Napa are just some of the cities in the country which are well known for being counterfeit hotspots,” the report said.
According to the site, the UK tops the list of European countries most interested in fake designer goods with a whopping 139,200 annual searches.
Turkey and Germany are in second and third places, with 101,880 and 95,640 annual searches respectively.
Ranked next are Ireland, France, Italy and Slovakia.
Also in the top 10 European countries are Ukraine, the Netherlands and Spain.
“Despite being the biggest country in Europe, Russia finds itself in 16th place when looking at which European countries are most interested in fake designer goods. With only 34,440 annual searches in comparison to the other countries, it’s clear to see that their interests and money lie in other places,” UK-based Onbuy.com said.
“Belgium is another country notorious for their love of fake designer goods. The capital Brussels previously made headlines for a bust of fake designer handbags worth €1.4m, but that clearly wasn’t enough to put them off as they slide into 19th place (22,440 annual searches).”
In 20th place is Austria with 18,600 annual searches. In Austria people can face fines of up to €15,000 if they are caught buying fake goods via e-commerce.
The research, which utilised online analytic tool SEMrush to find the search volumes for fake designer products, also found that 22 per cent of people admit to owning fake designer goods and 18 per cent of shoppers have given fake designer goods as a present.
Sixty-seven per cent of those who gave a fake designer good as a gift did not tell the person they gifted it to whereas 23 per cent did.
With 241,200 global searches annually, Gucci tops the list of designer brands that shoppers search for when it comes to fakes. Their most searched for items are their belts, bags and shoes.
In second place is Balenciaga with 211,560 annual searches. Most people were interested in their shoes, followed by their hoodie and bags. In third place is Louis Vuitton.
See more at www.OnBuy.com
