Get the best exchange rate between US dollars and Ethiopian birr
To get the best exchange rate between the US dollar and the Ethiopian birr, look for an exchange rate that’s closest to the mid-market rate of the currency. When sending money to Ethiopia, online money transfer services are often a better choice than traditional banks because of lower fees and faster transaction times — some services even offer cash pick-up in Ethiopia.
For travelers to Ethiopia, bring US dollars in cash with you and exchange them to Ethiopian birr once in the country at major banks in the capital.
ATMs are not common in Ethiopia and in most cases where you can find them, it’s reported that only Visa cards are accepted.
US Dollar
The US dollar is the most traded currency in the world. The world’s unofficial reserve currency, it can be found in most major currency pairs. In forex, it’s an important benchmark and target rate for countries that fix or peg their currencies against its value. It is also used as the standard currency for oil, precious metals and other commodities.
Currency:
US Dollar
Currency Symbol:
$
Sub unit:
cents
Bank notes:
$1, $5, $10, $20, $50, $100
Coins:
1c, 5c, 10c, 25c, 50c
Ethiopian Birr
The Ethiopian birr is the second most used currency in Africa, behind the Nigerian naira. The birr is a volatile currency that has been devalued steadily since 1992 as the country’s ruling party stumbles to make good on overall modernization and government reforms.
Currency:
Ethiopian Birr
Currency Symbol:
Br, ብር
Sub unit:
santim
Bank notes:
1, 5, 10, 50, 100 birr
Coins:
1, 5, 10, 25, 50 santim; 1 Birr
What affects exchange rates between the US dollar and the Ethiopian birr?
Since the exchange rate between the US dollar and Ethiopian birr is managed by the National Bank of Ethiopia, it’s not subject to supply and demand in the market like other currencies.
The National Bank has repeatedly devalued the birr against the US dollar to increase the competitiveness of the local export industry.
In Ethiopia, there’s a very active black market where exchanges between dollars and birrs take place every day. Whenever the difference between the official exchange rate and the black market exchange rate becomes too big, the National Bank may choose to intervene to reduce the gap between the two rates.
Send money from USD to ETB
How does the Ethiopian birr trade against the US dollar historically?
Before 1993, the exchange rate of the Ethiopian birr was pegged to the US dollar at a value of 5,000 birr to 1 dollar.
In 1993, the old peg policy was scrapped and a system of “managed” exchange rates was introduced instead, effectively letting the birr depreciate in gradual steps against the US dollar. Since the old peg was lifted, the birr has been in a steady decline compared to the US dollar.
Between 1996 and 2000, the birr went from about 6.4 birr to 1 dollar, to 8.3 birr to 1 dollar.
Between 2008 and 2017, the birr continued to decline against the US dollar. At the beginning of 2008, you’d need about 9 birr to buy 1 dollar. At the end of 2017, after a number of government-initiated devaluations, you’d need about 27 birr for 1 dollar.
Did you know?
Despite this depreciation in value compared to the US dollar, the Ethiopian birr has actually been ranked as one of the more stable currencies in Sub-Saharan Africa. Large foreign exchange reserves combined with sound monetary policies in Ethiopia has contributed to make the birr a better currency to hold than many other African currencies.
US Dollar to the Ethiopian Birr for the last 10 days
Feb 17
Feb 18
Feb 19
Feb 20
Feb 21
Feb 22
Feb 23
Feb 24
Feb 25
Feb 26
1 USD =
31.9250
Inverse: 0.0313
31.9634
Inverse: 0.0313
31.9789
Inverse: 0.0313
31.9897
Inverse: 0.0313
32.2250
Inverse: 0.0310
32.2250
Inverse: 0.0310
31.9127
Inverse: 0.0313
31.9922
Inverse: 0.0313
32.3000
Inverse: 0.0310
32.4622
Inverse: 0.0308
US Dollar to the Ethiopian Birr for the last 10 months
Apr 2019
May 2019
Jun 2019
Jul 2019
Aug 2019
Sep 2019
Oct 2019
Nov 2019
Dec 2019
Jan 2020
1 USD =
28.5747
Inverse: 0.0350
28.9748
Inverse: 0.0345
29.1000
Inverse: 0.0344
29.0500
Inverse: 0.0344
29.2687
Inverse: 0.0342
29.4602
Inverse: 0.0339
29.7875
Inverse: 0.0336
30.3179
Inverse: 0.0330
31.7876
Inverse: 0.0315
32.1700
Inverse: 0.0311
US Dollar to the Ethiopian Birr for the last 10 years
Adrienne Fuller is the head of publishing at Finder. With a decade of experience creating guides in finance and education, she aims to deliver the accurate and transparent information she wishes she had when she made some of life's important financial decisions. For the past 3 years she has been the publisher of money transfers, helping readers save when they send money all over the globe. She has a BA from Colorado College and loves to hike with her two Catahoula dogs around her home in San Diego.
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