World currencies

There are approximately 180 official currencies recognised worldwide. Our database lists 143 distinct currencies for 197 countries. Most countries have their own national currency, but some monetary zones like the eurozone or the CFA franc zone bring several states together around a common currency.

ISO 4217 is the international standard published by the International Organization for Standardization that assigns a 3-letter alphabetic code to each currency. The first two letters generally correspond to the country code (ISO 3166-1 alpha-2) and the third to the currency itself. Examples: EUR (Euro), USD (US dollar), GBP (Pound sterling), JPY (Japanese yen).

The euro (EUR) is the official currency of 8 monetary zones listed in our database. The eurozone currently has 20 EU members, plus non-EU states that use the euro by agreement (Andorra, Monaco, San Marino, Vatican) or unilaterally (Kosovo, Montenegro).

The CFA franc exists in two variants: the West African CFA franc (XOF), used by 8 WAEMU countries (Benin, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal, Togo), and the Central African CFA franc (XAF), used by 6 CEMAC countries (Cameroon, Central African Republic, Congo, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Chad). Both have the same value but are issued by different central banks.