EU ranking, where we lead: Hungarians are hard to cheat with counterfeit products

Hungarians have the best understanding of the concept of intellectual property in the European Union, and only 9 percent of Hungarian consumers tend to be uncertain when it comes to recognising counterfeit products, according to a fresh study by the EU’s intellectual property office EUIPO.

The study find that Europeans are becoming increasingly conscious of the risks associated with buying counterfeit goods and accessing content from illegal sources. According to the study, 80 % of Europeans believe that criminal organizations are behind counterfeit products and acknowledge that such purchases harm businesses and employment. Moreover, 83 % think that buying counterfeits supports unethical behavior, and two-thirds recognise the potential threats to health, safety, and the environment. When it comes to digital piracy, 82 % agree that accessing content illegally poses risks such as scams and exposure to inappropriate content for minors, EUIPO says.

Despite these findings, the study reveals a disconnect between awareness and behaviour. One in three Europeans (31 %) finds it acceptable to buy counterfeit products if the price of the genuine product is too high. Among younger consumers aged 15-24, this figure jumps to 50 %.

Altogether 83 percent of Europeans claimed to have a very good or rather good understanding of IP, with that proportion being highest in Hungary and Portugal at 92 percent each, the study found.

When it comes to online pirated content, 54 percent of Hungarian consumers said it was acceptable to obtain content from the internet illegally for personal use. This ratio is highest in Slovakia at 58 percent and lowest in Denmark at 24 percent.

According to the study, 12 percent of Europeans admitted to having used illegal sources to watch sports over the past year. This was least common in Hungary (6 percent) and most frequent in Bulgaria (21 percent) and Greece (20 percent).

As we wrote before, the new and unique Hungarian price monitoring system will start operation this July following the prices of 62 food products, details HERE.