Morocco’s central bank detected 4,064 counterfeit banknotes worth nearly MAD 574,000 ($57,000) in 2025, a 10% decline from the previous year, even as cash in circulation surged to a record MAD 513 billion, according to Bank Al-Maghrib’s annual report on financial market infrastructure and payment methods.
The volume of cash in circulation rose 15.5% year over year, compared with 7.6% in 2024, highlighting the continued reliance on physical money despite the expansion of electronic payment methods.
The central bank attributed the improvement in counterfeit detection indicators to stronger security features on newer banknotes, upgraded cash-processing equipment and expanded inspections at banks and specialized cash-processing centers.
The rate of detected counterfeit banknotes fell to 1.2 per million banknotes in circulation in 2025, down from 1.5 in 2024 and 5.2 in 2019.
The decline came as the number of banknotes in circulation increased 15% to 3.4 billion by the end of December 2025. The number of coins in circulation also rose, reaching 3.4 billion units, up 3% year over year.
MAD 200 banknotes account for most counterfeits
Bank Al-Maghrib’s report identified MAD 200 banknotes as the most frequently detected counterfeit denomination, accounting for 56% of counterfeit notes discovered in 2025, down from 58% a year earlier.
MAD 100 banknotes represented 21% of detected counterfeits, up from 17% in 2024. MAD 20 notes accounted for 13%, while MAD 50 notes made up 10%, down from 13% the previous year.
Together, the MAD 100 and MAD 200 denominations accounted for 77% of detected counterfeit banknotes.
The MAD 200 denomination also dominated the composition of cash in circulation, representing 76% of the total value of banknotes in circulation at the end of 2025, compared with 75% a year earlier. It accounted for approximately 57% of all banknotes by number, while MAD 100 notes represented 34%.
The report cautioned, in effect, that these figures describe the distribution of detected counterfeits and banknotes in circulation; they do not, on their own, establish the relative likelihood of counterfeiting for each denomination.
Copying, imaging and color-printing techniques accounted for 97% of identified counterfeiting methods in 2025, up from 90% in 2024, according to the report.
Cash in circulation rises 92% since 2019
Cash in circulation increased by MAD 69 billion in 2025, from MAD 444 billion at the end of 2024 to MAD 513 billion at the end of last year.
Since 2019, the total has risen from MAD 267 billion, representing cumulative growth of approximately 92%.
Cash in circulation amounted to 30% of Morocco’s gross domestic product in 2025, up from 28% a year earlier and slightly above 20% before the COVID-19 pandemic.
The annual growth rate also exceeded the average of 10.5% recorded in 2022 and 2023, underscoring the continued importance of cash in the Moroccan economy despite the wider availability of digital payment services.
New banknote series gains ground
The central bank’s 2023 banknote series continued to gain market share, accounting for 27% of banknotes in circulation by the end of 2025, compared with 9% in 2024.
The 2012 series’ share fell from 85% to 69%. Older series issued in 1987 and 2002 accounted for 1% and 3%, respectively.
Bank Al-Maghrib linked the decline in detected counterfeiting to the enhanced security features incorporated into newer banknotes, alongside improvements in cash-processing technology and broader inspection procedures.
Nearly 4.7 billion banknotes processed in 2025
The central bank and specialized cash-processing centers processed approximately 4.7 billion banknotes in 2025, an increase of 2% from the previous year.
Specialized centers handled 86% of the total, or around 4 billion banknotes, while Bank Al-Maghrib processed the remainder.
The centers returned approximately 3.1 billion banknotes to circulation, representing a recycling rate of 77%, down from 79% in 2024.
Recycling rates varied by denomination, reaching 84% for MAD 200 notes and 76% for MAD 100 notes. The rates were considerably lower for MAD 50 and MAD 20 banknotes, at 34% and 23%, respectively.
Authorities destroyed 388 million banknotes deemed unfit for circulation in 2025, a slight decline of 0.2% from the previous year.
Specialized centers also transferred approximately 830 million unfit banknotes to Bank Al-Maghrib, an increase of 5%, as part of efforts to remove worn-out notes from circulation.
Banknote distribution and cash withdrawals increase
Bank Al-Maghrib and specialized cash-processing centers supplied banks with approximately 4.3 billion banknotes in 2025, up from 4.1 billion in 2024, an increase of nearly 7%.
The total included around 3.5 billion recycled banknotes and 800 million new notes, compared with 650 million new notes in 2024, representing an increase of approximately 22%.
MAD 200 banknotes accounted for roughly half of all notes distributed to banks, at approximately 2.1 billion units. MAD 100 notes represented another 45%, or around 1.9 billion units.
Cash withdrawals from Bank Al-Maghrib rose to MAD 262 billion in 2025, up from MAD 227 billion in 2024. Deposits declined slightly, from MAD 195 billion to MAD 193 billion.
As a result, net cash withdrawals reached MAD 69 billion, more than double the MAD 32 billion recorded in 2024 and exceeding the MAD 53 billion recorded in 2020.
The figures highlight the growing demand for physical cash and the scale of the operational effort required to supply banks, maintain banknote quality and remove counterfeit and unfit currency from circulation.
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