All currencies of all countries

Reserve currencies

A reserve currency is a currency that is also used to a particular extent as a means of payment beyond its country of origin. For example, the U.S. dollar has been considered a reserve currency since World War II because, for example, oil prices are always calculated in dollars and numerous other currencies have pegged themselves to the U.S. dollar. The dollar has enormous influence, accounting for 63 percent of global foreign exchange reserves (end of 2017). Since 2002, the euro has also increasingly been seen as a reserve currency. Although it still has a share of "only" 16 percent in terms of international use, it is gaining acceptance in more and more economies and also exhibits greater stability.

Depending on the interpretation of the term reserve currency, other currencies are also regarded as such: The British pound has traditionally played a strong role in the countries of the British Commonwealth. In Southeast and Far Asia, the Japanese yen is of enormous importance, but is slowly losing its significance due to its original circulation and is ceding its role to the Chinese renminbi. Incidentally, because of its stability, the German mark was also considered the reserve currency for the intra-European economy before the introduction of the euro.

List of all currencies

All current official currencies are represented in the following list. Click on the respective currency name to view more information and conversion rates. An extensive CSV file with all ISO codes and conversion rates is also available in the download area.

How exchange rates are created

Roughly speaking, an exchange rate is the price of one currency in another. As with all things in a market economy, supply and demand regulate this price. However, money is not only exchanged for another currency because people are going on vacation or paying for goods from abroad. The largest currency transfers are made by countries that hedge each other by holding large amounts of foreign currency. If a state gets into economic difficulties, its currency is often also damaged. The smaller this foreign currency is, i.e., the less widely used it is worldwide, the more likely it is that exchange rates will begin to fluctuate. These fluctuations mean uncertainty for its investors, the currency is less and less in demand and the price falls.

To prevent a currency from fluctuating too much, one move is to raise or lower key interest rates, which changes demand in the desired direction. Also well-known, especially in Europe, are the interventions by the central bank, which buys or sells large amounts of foreign currency in order to influence a currency.