According to the Chairman of the Pharma Bureau in Pakistan, the pharmaceutical market in the country is worth $2 Billion year. Out of the total legitimate market, counterfeit drugs is estimated to take up to 15 percent of the market, or $300 Million a year.
The 15 percent estimate of fake drugs in Pakistan by industry representatives is lower than the 30 to 40 percent estimate given by the World Health Organization in 2012.
Source: Farhan Zaheer, “Country badly needs a study to assess threat from fake drugs,” Express Tribune, May 20, 2013.
Police in Central and East China broke up a counterfeit condom production ring that had 4.65 million fake condoms already packaged and ready for shipment. Police also found an additional 1,100 pounds of unpackaged counterfeit condoms at the warehouse.
The factory could produce up to 20,000 counterfeit condoms each day. The cost of produce one fake condom was $0.03 (0.17 Chinese Yuan), which would be sold for $0.16 (1 Yuan).
Health officials in China said that the condoms were poor quality and was prone to break during sexual activity.
Source: Kaijing Xiao, “Counterfeit Condom Ring Busted and Millions of Contraceptives Confiscated,” ABC News, May 15, 2013.
The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency broke up a criminal ring that was selling counterfeit erectile dysfunction drugs in the country. The ring would buy fake Viagra from producers in China for $0.06 (70 South Korean Won) per tablet. They would then resell the counterfeit drugs to men in South Korea for $0.81 to $0.90 (900 to 1,000 Won) per tablet.
The price of legitimate Viagra made by Pfizer and sold at pharmacies in South Korea normally cost between $16.15 to $17.94 (18,000 Won to 20,000 Won) per tablet.
Source: Yonhap, “Nine nabbed for smuggling fake Viagra from China,” Yonhap News, May 15, 2013.
The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) in Nigeria reported that the prevalence rate of counterfeit drugs in the country was at 6 percent in 2013. The rate was down from16.7 percent over the previous five years.
Officials in Nigeria state that most of the fake drugs originate from China.
Source: Francis Kokutse, “Unlike India, China not helping Nigeria stop fake drugs’,” New York Daily News, May 15, 2013.
A report in the New York Times stated that the price of one Viagra pill when purchased through an insurance company is between $29 to $49 in copayments. When Viagra is purchased on online pharmacies, the price is about $10.
Pfizer, the maker of the drug, conducted a survey of 22 websites that were offering Viagra in 2011. According to their survey, 80 percent of the pills purchased from these sites were counterfeit drugs. In these fake pills, the active ingredient of sildenafil citrate only made up to half of the drug.
Source: Katie Thomas, “Facing Black Market, Pfizer Is Looking Online to Sell Viagra,” New York Times, May 6, 2013.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police stated that 44,975 counterfeit Canadian banknotes were found by authorities in 2012. The number of fake banknotes discovered in circulation has been declining for 8 years in a row and is down 92 percent from 2004.
Aside from the number of fake banknotes discovered, the RCMP also seized 14,882 counterfeit banknotes in 2012.
68 percent of the fake notes passed in 2012 were of the $20 bill.
Out of the nearly 2 billion banknotes in circulation, financial regulators estimate that up to 28 counterfeit notes out of every 1 million legitimate notes. The value of these counterfeits are $1.6 Million.
Source: Daniel Schwartz, “Bank of Canada unveils new $5 and $10 polymer banknotes,” CBC News, April 30, 2013.
The Indonesian Record Industry Association stated that at least 6 million people in Indonesia are illegally downloading music off of the Internet each day. The value of the music that is downloaded without payment is estimated to be $1.65 Million (16 Billion Indonesian Rupiah) per day.
In 2012, customers purchased 11 million CDs during the year, down from the average of 90 million CDs sold several years before.
(More music piracy statistics.)
Source: “Piracy may cost record firms $1.65m a day,” Jakarta Post, April 27, 2013.
Media companies in the United States estimates that up to $1 Billion worth of Pay-TV shows are watched in Asia without the proper licenses and fees being paid.
In China alone, the US International Trade Commission stated that $48 Billion worth of copyright materials produced by business in the US was consumed in China in 2011 without payment.
Source: Caitlin Dewey, “Why a U.S. ambassador asked Australians to stop pirating ‘Game of Thrones’,” Washington Post, WorldViews, April 26, 2013.
Bankers in India estimate that up to $2.2 Trillion (120,000 Billion Indian Rupees) of currency in the country could be counterfeit.
In 2009 to 2010, the Reserve Bank of India detected over 400,000 counterfeit notes that were passed in circulation.
Authorities state that many ATM machines at bank locations dispense fake 500 and 1,000 notes.
Source: ”India’s reserve bank works to combat counterfeiters,” Radio Australia, April 23, 2013.
In 2011, authorities in the European Union seized 2.1 million counterfeit toys. According to a breakdown by Toy News, five countries in the EU accounted for 57 percent of those seizures.
Top five EU member states where fake toys were seized in 2011:
1. Romania: 319,174 counterfeit toys seized.
2. Germany: 308,506 counterfeit toys seized.
3. France: 212,273 counterfeit toys seized.
4. Spain: 193,149 counterfeit toys seized.
5. Bulgaria: 181,838 counterfeit toys seized.
Source: Dominic Sacco, “Romania is counterfeit toy capital of Europe,” Toy News, April 18, 2013.
