Top 10 Weakest Currencies in World

The World's Weakest Currencies 2021

1 – Iranian Rial [1 USD = 42,105 IRR] 

Toman refers to a Maha-unit of the currency of Iran (called 'Riyal'). The word 'Toman' is derived from the word 'Tumen' in the Mongol language, which means 'ten thousand'. Iran used to have 10,000 dinars in the Toman currency until 1932. [1] In 1932, Toman was removed and the riyal became the currency of Iran and the old currency was replaced at the rate of 1 toman = 10 riyals. Still, in common folk language, Iranians call 10 riyals as Toman and talk about prices in Toman. This is similar to the way in which people of India and Pakistan call 50 paise as 'eight', although now there is no formal 'Aana' salt currency in these countries.

2 – Vietnamese Dong [1 USD = 23,175 VND] 

The dong has been the currency of Vietnam since May 3, 1978. It is issued by the State Bank of Vietnam. Formerly, it was subdivided into 10 hào, which were further subdivided into 10 xu, neither of which are now used. The Vietnamese đồng has increasingly moved towards exclusively using banknotes; as of 2012 the use of coins has decreased greatly, and since 2014 coins are generally not accepted in retail, but will still be accepted in some, but not all, banks.

3 – Indonesian Rupiah [1 USD = 14,697.50 IDR] 

Currently, 100 to 1000 coins are in circulation in Rupiah (1 coin is officially in circulation but not in circulation due to being priceless) and notes from 1000 to 100,000 are in circulation. As of January 2014, the equivalent of US $ 1 is about 13,600 rupees. Thus the largest Indonesian note is worth about US $ 7.45.

4 – Uzbekistani Som [1 USD = 10,291.68 UZS] 

When the Som was introduced, 25 Som were equal to 1 US Dollar. Currently, the largest denomination of Uzbek currency, the 1,000-som bill, is worth approximately 60 cents U.S, requiring Uzbeks to carry enormous numbers of bills just to do grocery shopping and pay bills. The Som was initially a word which was used in Uzbekistan to describe the Ruble, so the Som is simply another word for it.

5 – Sierra Leonean Leone [1 USD = 9,762.50 SLL] 

Sierra Leone has a rich supply of natural resources including diamonds, iron ore, gold and chromite … yet it is one of the world’s 10 most impoverished and least developed countries.

This is because Sierra Leone’s economy continues to struggle under the weight of conflict and recurring Ebola epidemics. GDP plunged during the 2015 Ebola outbreak, and despite some growth, it remains in the repressed category today.

6 – Guinean Franc [1 USD = 9,666.80 GNF]

Similar to Sierra Leone, neighbouring Guinea is rich in natural resources, including bauxite, iron ore and diamond and gold deposits. However, Guinea has also faced stalled economic growth because of political instability and Ebola outbreaks.

7 – Laotian Kip [1 USD = 9,109.49 LAK]

The world’s seventh weakest currency in 2020 is an outlier on this list. This is because Laos is the only country on this list whose currency was not forced to devalue – it was originally issued with a very low exchange rate against USD back in 1952.

8 – Paraguayan Guarani [1 USD = 6,989.35 PYG]

After a deep recession in the late 1990s and early 2000s, Paraguay suffered climbing inflation rate, economic downturn, corruption, low education quality and high unemployment. Although the country exports cotton and soybeans, this is not enough to cover the cost of its imports. Last year, paraguay did go from being the second poorest South American country (by GDP) to the fourth poorest in the space of just 3 years – but this growth has been strongly hampered by COVID-19.

9 – Cambodian Riel [1 USD = 4,101.44 KHR]

When the Cambodian riel was first introduced in 1995, it wasn’t very popular – that hasn’t changed much in the years since. Although the riel is the official currency, the US dollar had been in use in Cambodia since United Nations peacekeeping forces arrived in the early 90s. Many Cambodians still prefer it – USD is used for a massive 90% of transactions here, causing the less popular riel to have a correspondingly lower value.

10 – Ugandan Shilling [1 USD = 3,686.64 UGX]

The Ugandan shilling first appeared in 1966, replacing the East African shilling (also used in Kenya, Tanganyika and Zanzibar) as Uganda’s official currency. Despite its relatively low value against the US dollar over the past few years, the Ugandan shilling has remained quite stable.