Currency units explained
Every rate here is the European Central Bank's daily reference figure against the euro, which is why the euro is the base. What follows is what each currency is, and the things about it that catch people out.
Euro EUR
Base unit — every factor on this page is measured against it
The currency of twenty EU member states and the base of every rate on this page, because the European Central Bank publishes its reference rates against it. Introduced for accounting in 1999 and as cash in 2002; the second most held reserve currency after the dollar.
US dollar USD
1 USD = 0.87 EUR
The world's primary reserve currency and the unit most commodities are priced in, which is why a dollar move shifts the cost of oil and metals everywhere, not just in America. Also legal tender or the de facto currency in a number of countries that do not issue it.
Japanese yen JPY
1 JPY = 0.01 EUR
The yen has no commonly used subunit in practice, so prices are whole numbers and the figures look large: a coffee is several hundred yen. That is a labelling convention, not weakness. Widely used as a funding currency because Japanese interest rates stayed near zero for decades.
Czech koruna CZK
1 CZK = 0.04 EUR
The Czech koruna. Like the zloty, an EU currency outside the euro. The central bank held it at a floor against the euro from 2013 to 2017, an unusually explicit intervention for a floating currency.
Danish krone DKK
1 DKK = 0.13 EUR
The Danish krone is pegged to the euro within a very narrow band under the European exchange rate mechanism, so it tracks the euro almost exactly. Denmark negotiated an opt-out from adopting the euro itself.
British pound GBP
1 GBP = 1.17 EUR
Sterling, and the oldest currency still in continuous use — traceable to Anglo-Saxon silver pennies. Decimalised in 1971, ending the pound of 240 pence and the shilling of twelve. Usually quoted with the pound first, as pounds per dollar rather than the other way round.
Hungarian forint HUF
1 HUF = 0.00 EUR
The Hungarian forint. Quoted in large numbers because the subunit was abolished, so a restaurant bill runs to several thousand. Named after Florence, where the original gold florin was struck.
Polish złoty PLN
1 PLN = 0.23 EUR
The Polish zloty. The name means golden. Poland is an EU member with no fixed timetable for adopting the euro, so the zloty floats and moves with regional sentiment.
Romanian leu RON
1 RON = 0.19 EUR
The Romanian leu, meaning lion. Redenominated in 2005 at ten thousand old lei to one new one, which is why older price references look startling. The plural is lei.
Swedish krona SEK
1 SEK = 0.09 EUR
The Swedish krona. Sweden is in the EU but rejected the euro in a 2003 referendum and keeps its own currency. The plural is kronor, and the symbol kr is shared with Norway, Denmark and Iceland — which is why this site labels currencies by code.
Swiss franc CHF
1 CHF = 1.07 EUR
The Swiss franc, the classic safe-haven currency: demand rises when markets are nervous, which has repeatedly pushed it up hard enough for the central bank to intervene. Also legal tender in Liechtenstein.
Icelandic króna ISK
1 ISK = 0.01 EUR
The Icelandic krona. A very small currency by volume, which is part of why the 2008 banking collapse hit it so hard. Capital controls stayed in place for years afterwards and were only fully lifted in 2017.
Norwegian krone NOK
1 NOK = 0.09 EUR
The Norwegian krone, closely linked to oil and gas revenues. Norway is outside the EU, and its sovereign wealth fund, built from petroleum income, is among the largest pools of invested capital in the world.
Turkish lira TRY
1 TRY = 0.02 EUR
The Turkish lira. Redenominated in 2005 at a million to one, dropping six zeros. High inflation has been the dominant influence on its value in recent years, so rates quoted here move faster than most others on this page.
Australian dollar AUD
1 AUD = 0.61 EUR
The Australian dollar tends to track commodity prices, particularly iron ore and coal, which makes it a rough proxy for Chinese industrial demand. Among the most traded currencies despite Australia's modest share of world output.
Brazilian real BRL
1 BRL = 0.17 EUR
The Brazilian real, introduced in 1994 as the centrepiece of a plan that ended hyperinflation. The plural is reais. Commodity exports, particularly soy, iron and oil, drive much of its movement.
Canadian dollar CAD
1 CAD = 0.62 EUR
The Canadian dollar, informally the loonie after the bird on the one- dollar coin. Closely tied to oil prices and to the US economy, which takes the large majority of Canadian exports.
Chinese yuan CNY
1 CNY = 0.13 EUR
The renminbi, whose primary unit is the yuan — the currency is the renminbi, the unit is the yuan, roughly as sterling is the currency and the pound the unit. Managed against a basket rather than floating freely, so it moves in a narrower band than most.
Hong Kong dollar HKD
1 HKD = 0.11 EUR
The Hong Kong dollar has been pegged to the US dollar since 1983, within a narrow band. That peg is why it barely moves against the dollar and moves exactly like it against everything else.
Indonesian rupiah IDR
1 IDR = 0.00 EUR
The Indonesian rupiah. Quoted in very large numbers, so everyday prices run to tens of thousands. Related by name to the Indian rupee, both from a Sanskrit word for wrought silver.
Israeli shekel ILS
1 ILS = 0.28 EUR
The Israeli new shekel, introduced in 1985 to replace a currency that inflation had made unusable. The word shekel is ancient — originally a unit of weight in barley or silver, long before it named money.
Indian rupee INR
1 INR = 0.01 EUR
The Indian rupee. Large sums are commonly written in lakh (a hundred thousand) and crore (ten million) rather than in millions, so an Indian price quoted as 5 crore is 50 million rupees.
South Korean won KRW
1 KRW = 0.00 EUR
The South Korean won. No subunit is used in practice, so prices run to thousands and tens of thousands. Won, yen and yuan all descend from the same Chinese character for a round coin.
Mexican peso MXN
1 MXN = 0.05 EUR
The Mexican peso, among the most traded emerging market currencies and often used as a proxy for sentiment towards the group as a whole. The peso sign is the same as the dollar sign, which is not a coincidence — the dollar borrowed it.
Malaysian ringgit MYR
1 MYR = 0.21 EUR
The Malaysian ringgit. The name means jagged, describing the milled edges of the Spanish silver dollars that circulated in the region centuries ago.
New Zealand dollar NZD
1 NZD = 0.51 EUR
The New Zealand dollar, or kiwi. A small economy but a heavily traded currency, historically because New Zealand's interest rates were higher than most developed peers, which attracted carry trades.
Philippine peso PHP
1 PHP = 0.01 EUR
The Philippine peso, a legacy of Spanish colonial rule, as the name suggests. Remittances from Filipinos working abroad are a substantial share of the economy and a real influence on the currency.
Singapore dollar SGD
1 SGD = 0.68 EUR
The Singapore dollar is managed against an undisclosed basket of trading partners' currencies rather than by setting interest rates — an unusual approach that suits an economy where trade dwarfs domestic demand.
Thai baht THB
1 THB = 0.03 EUR
The Thai baht, originally a unit of weight for silver and still used that way for gold jewellery, where a baht is about 15 grams. Tourism receipts are a significant driver of demand for it.
South African rand ZAR
1 ZAR = 0.05 EUR
The South African rand, named for the Witwatersrand, the gold-bearing ridge that Johannesburg grew on. Volatile, heavily traded, and often moved by commodity prices and domestic politics together.