One in two Cypriot youth buy knockoff goods online

One out of two Cypriots aged 15 to 24, during the past year, has bought at least one counterfeit product online, either knowingly or unwittingly, according to the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO).

According to a recent EUIPO survey, 53% of young Cypriots said that they had bought a knockoff at least once in the past year, while 26% did so knowingly.

On average, 52% of European youth have bought fake goods online.

One out of three (33%) Cypriot youth also said they had accessed pirated content online. The EU average of youth accessing pirated content was 21%.

The main type of pirate content accessed by EU youth were movies with 61%, TV series (52%), followed by music (36%).

However, the same survey shows that 58% of young people in Cyprus prefer to have access to digital content from legal sources.

The corresponding rate in the EU was 60%, having increased compared to 2019 when it was at 50%

The main factors influencing young people toward pirated content are price and availability, peer pressure, and social influence also play a role.

Deterrents for young people to avoid pirated content are concerns over cyber safety and possible scams.

When asked about counterfeits they knowingly buy, Cypriots said the most popular items were clothing (17%), followed by footwear (14%), electronics (13%) and hygiene products, cosmetics, personal care products and perfumes (12%).

EUIPO Executive Director Christian Archambeau said the growing trends in intentional and unintentional buys of counterfeit products are worrying.

“Piracy is not going away, despite younger people preferring legal sources for their digital content.”