Currencies Of The World

What are the currencies of the world?

Most of us know a little about currencies from our travels abroad. When we fly off to new countries, we usually change money from our home currency to that of our destination. So basically, ‘currency’ is a term used to describe the different types of money in various countries around the world. Values of currency also change around the world - one euro will not be equivalent to one US dollar. It’s a variable equation that keeps the foreign exchange market busy.

At WorldRemit, as we send our customers’ money securely around the world, we deal with currencies on a daily basis. So, we know a thing or two about the subject. That’s why we’ve put together this article - to share some of our knowledge and give you a better understanding on the world of currencies. There are 180 currencies in the world, and we’ll look at the strongest and the weakest. Plus, we’ll look at the currency symbols and more. There’s no test at the end, so sit back and enjoy the article.

Table of contents

WorldRemit Content Team

30 June 2023 • 6 mins read • Updated 11 September 2023

What are the strongest currencies of the world?

So, what makes a currency strong ? Quite simply a currency that has a high value when compared to others. The foreign exchange rate will determine values and these, of course, fluctuate all the time. According to Forbes, as of 22 March 2023, the ten strongest currencies were:

Kuwaiti dinar (KWD)
Bahraini dinar (BHD)
Omani rial (OMR)
Jordanian dinar (JOD)
British pound (GBP)
Cayman Islands dollar (KYD)

=6. Gibraltar pound (GIP)

8. Swiss Franc (CHF)

=8. euro (EUR)

10. US dollar (USD)

As you’ll see from the list above, although the US dollar is one of the most widely used around the world, it’s not the strongest.

What are the weakest currencies of the world?

It goes without saying that if the strongest currencies around the world are the most valuable, the weakest are the least. They trade on the foreign exchange at just a fraction of a dollar - so, you often need tens of thousands of units just to get $1. According to Forbes, as of 12 June 2023, the ten weakest currencies are:

Iranian Rial (IRR)
Vietnamese Dong (VND)
Laotian Kip (LAK)
Sierra Leonean Leone (SLL)
Lebanese Pound (LBP)
Indonesian Rupiah (IDR)
Uzbekistan Som (UZS)
Guinean Franc (GNF)
Paraguayan Guarani (PYG)
Ugandan Shilling (UGX)

Reserve currencies of the world

A reserve currency is a large amount of foreign currency held by the central banks and other financial institutions around the world. It’s used in international transactions, investments and to pay for international debt obligations.

By using their reserve currency, a country can reduce its exchange rate risk, as there’s no need for the country to use its home currency in transactions. Also, a large number of commodities are priced in the reserve currency. So, a country needs to hold this currency to pay for those goods.

Since 1944 the US dollar has been the primary reserve currency used by other countries. However, its dominance has seen a decline over the last two decades. Despite that, according to the IMF it’s still used more than all the other currencies combined. The euro, which was introduced in 1999, is the second most commonly held reserve currency globally.

List of all world currencies

According to World Data, all the current official currencies are represented in the following list. You can click on the respective currency name to view more information and the conversion rates.

ISO	Currency	Countries
AED	Arabic dirham	United Arab Emirates
AFN	afghani	Afghanistan
ALL	lek	Albania
AMD	dram	Armenia
ANG	Netherlands Antillean guilder	Sint Maarten, Curaçao
AOA	kwanza	Angola
ARS	Argentine peso	Argentina
AUD	Australian dollar	Australia, Christmas Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Nauru, Norfolk Island, Heard Island and McDonald Islands
AWG	guilder	Aruba
AZN	manat	Azerbaijan
BAM	Convertible mark	Bosnia and Herzegovina
BBD	Barbadian dollar	Barbados
BDT	taka	Bangladesh
BGN	Bulgarian lev	Bulgaria
BHD	Bahrain dinar	Bahrain
BIF	Burundi franc	Burundi
BMD	Bermudian dollar	Bermuda
BND	Brunei dollar	Brunei
BOB	boliviano	Bolivia
BRL	Brazilian real	Brazil
BSD	Bahamian dollar	Bahamas
BTN	ngultrum	Bhutan
BWP	pula	Botswana
BYR	Belarus rubel	Belarus
BZD	Belize dollar	Belize
CAD	Canadian dollar	Canada
CDF	Congolais franc	Democratic Republic of the Congo
CHF	Swiss franc	Liechtenstein, Switzerland
CKD	Cook dollar	Cook Islands
CLP	Chilean peso	Chile
CNY	Renminbi yuan	China
COP	Colombian peso	Colombia
CRC	colón	Costa Rica
CUP	Cuban peso	Cuba
CVE	Cape Verdean escudo	Cape Verde
CZK	Czech krone	Czechia
DJF	Djibouti franc	Djibouti
DKK	Danish krone	Greenland, Denmark
DOP	Dominican peso	Dominican Republic
DZD	Algerian dinar	Algeria
EGP	Egypt pound	Egypt
ERN	nakfa	Eritrea
ETB	birr	Ethiopia
FJD	Fiji dollar	Fiji
FKP	Falklands pound	Falkland Islands
FOK	Faroese krona	Faroe Islands
GBP	Sterling pound	United Kingdom, South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands
GEL	Georgian lari	Georgia
GGP	Guernsey pound	Guernsey
GHS	Ghana cedi	Ghana
GIP	Gibraltar pound	Gibraltar
GMD	dalasi	Gambia
GNF	Guinea franc	Guinea
GTQ	quetzal	Guatemala
GYD	Guyana dollar	Guyana
HKD	Hong Kong dollar	Hong Kong
HNL	lempira	Honduras
HTG	gourde	Haiti
HUF	Hungarian forint	Hungary
IDR	Indonesian rupiah	Indonesia
ILS	New Israeli sheqel	Israel, Palestine
IMP	Manx pound	Isle of Man
INR	Indian rupee	India
IQD	Iraqi dinar	Iraq
IRR	Iranian rial	Iran
ISK	Icelandic krone	Iceland
JEP	Jersey Sterling pound	Jersey
JMD	Jamaica dollar	Jamaica
JOD	Jordanian dinar	Jordan
JPY	Japanese yen	Japan
KES	Kenian schilling	Kenya
KGS	som	Kyrgyzstan
KHR	Cambodian riel	Cambodia
KID	Kiribati dollar	Kiribati
KMF	Comorian franc	Comoros
KPW	North Korean won	North Korea
KRW	South Korean won	South Korea
KWD	Kuwaiti dinar	Kuwait
KYD	Cayman dollar	Cayman Islands
KZT	tenge	Kazakhstan
LAK	kip	Laos
LBP	Lebanese pound	Lebanon
LKR	Sri Lanka rupee	Sri Lanka
LRD	Liberian dollar	Liberia
LSL	Lesotho loti	Lesotho
LYD	Libyan dinar	Libya
MAD	Moroccan dirham	Western Sahara, Morocco
MDL	Moldovan leu	Moldova
MGA	Malagasy ariary	Madagascar
MKD	denar	North Macedonia
MMK	kyat	Myanmar
MNT	tugrik	Mongolia
MOP	Macanese pataca	Macao
MRO	Mauritanian ouguiya	Mauritania
MUR	Mauritian rupee	Mauritius
MVR	Maldivian rufiyaa	Maldives
MWK	Malawian kwacha	Malawi
MXN	Mexican peso	Mexico
MYR	ringgit	Malaysia
MZN	metical	Mozambique
NAD	Namibian dollar	Namibia
NGN	naira	Nigeria
NIO	Córdoba oro	Nicaragua
NOK	Norwegian krone	Svalbard, Norway, Bouvet Island
NPR	Nepalese rupee	Nepal
NZD	New Zealand dollar	Niue, Pitcairn Islands, Tokelau, New Zealand
OMR	Omani rial	Oman
PAB	Panamanian balboa	Panama
PEN	Nuevo sol	Peru
PGK	kina	Papua New Guinea
PHP	Philippine peso	Philippines
PKR	Pakistanian rupee	Pakistan
PLN	zloty	Poland
PYG	guaraní	Paraguay
QAR	Qatari rial	Qatar
RON	Romanian leu	Romania
RSD	Serbian dinar	Serbia
RUB	Russian rubel	Russia
RWF	Rwandan franc	Rwanda
SAR	Saudi rial	Saudi Arabia
SBD	Salomon dollar	Solomon Islands
SCR	Seychelles rupee	Seychelles
SDG	Sudanese pound	Sudan
SEK	Swedish krone	Sweden
SGD	Singapore dollar	Singapore
SHP	St.-Helena pound	Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha
SLL	leone	Sierra Leone
SOS	Somalian shilling	Somalia
SRD	Surinam dollar	Suriname
SSP	South Sudanese pound	South Sudan
STD	dobra	Sao Tome and Principe
SYP	Syrian pound	Syria
SZL	Swazi lilangeni	Eswatini
THB	Thai baht	Thailand
TJS	somoni	Tajikistan
TMT	Turkmen manat	Turkmenistan
TND	Tunesian dinar	Tunisia
TOP	pa'anga	Tonga
TRY	Turkish lira	Turkey
TTD	Trinidad and Tobago dollar	Trinidad and Tobago
TVD	Tuvaluan dollar	Tuvalu
TWD	New Taiwan dollar	Taiwan
TZS	Tansanian shilling	Tanzania
UAH	hrywnja	Ukraine
UGX	Ugandan schilling	Uganda
USD	US dollar	American Samoa, British Virgin Islands, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guam, East Timor, Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Palau, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, Turks and Caicos Islands, United States of America, Virgin Islands, British Indian Ocean Territory, Caribbean Netherlands, United States Minor Outlying Islands
UYU	Uruguay peso	Uruguay
UZS	Uzbekistan sum	Uzbekistan
VND	dong	Vietnam
VUV	vatu	Vanuatu
WST	tala	Samoa
XAF	Central African franc	Gabon, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Chad
XCD	East Caribbean dollar	Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
XOF	West African franc	Benin, Burkina Faso, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Ivory Coast, Senegal, Togo
XPF	Pacific franc	French Polynesia, New Caledonia, Wallis and Futuna
YER	Jemen rial	Yemen
ZAR	South African rand	South Africa
ZMW	Zambian kwacha	Zambia
ZWL	Zimbabwe dollar	Zimbabwe

Currency symbols of the world

A currency symbol is a graphic representation of the currency. These small symbols are there to help people identify the currency at a glance. Here are some of major currency symbols of the world:

Dollar Symbol - $
Euro Symbol - €
Pound Sterling Symbol – £
Yen Symbol – ¥
Franc Symbol – ₣
Rupee Symbol – ₹
Dinar Symbol – د.ك
Dirham Symbol – د.إ
Riyal Symbol – ﷼‎
Mark Symbol – ₻
Rouble Symbol – ₽
Lari Symbol - ₾
Lira Symbol - ₺
Manat Symbol – ₼
Tenge Symbol – ₸
Hryvnia Symbol – ₴
Spesmilo Symbol – ₷
Baht Symbol - ฿
Won Symbol – 원
Dong Symbol – ₫
Tugrik Symbol – ₮
Drachma Symbol – ₯
Peso Symbol – ₱
Austral Symbol – ₳
Cedi Symbol – ₵
Guarani Symbol – ₲
Sheqel Symbol – ₪
Penny Symbol – ₰

Transfer money internationally with WorldRemit

We hope you now know all you need to know about world currencies. It’s useful knowledge - especially when you’re sending money to family and friends globally. WorldRemit can help you there, too. We can offer you an excellent, low-cost, online money transfer service: one that allows you to send fast and secure transfers, on our website or app.

If you need any more information on the many different aspects of global money, you can also refer to our blog for a host of interesting articles.

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The contents of this blog post does not constitute legal or financial advice and is provided for general information purposes only. If you require specific legal and / or financial advice you should contact a specialist lawyer or financial advisor. Information true at time of publishing.

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