Weakest Currencies Compared to the Real: The Top 10 Depreciated Currencies in 2025

Receive your salary in one day, and when you go to the store the next day, you realize it’s already worth half of what it was before. This is the reality for residents of countries with the world’s cheapest currencies. A friend recently shared a photo from Lebanon: in his hands, dozens of thousands of Lebanese pounds that he could barely hold. What looked like play money — more than 50,000 notes — was worth only R$ 3.00. The image shocks because here in Brazil, we complain when the dollar hits R$ 5.44, but the truth is that there are economies where currencies have collapsed much more brutally.

The Brazilian real ended 2024 as the worst-performing major currency in the world, losing 21.52% of its value. But this is just a preview of what you’ll see ahead. Throughout 2025, a global scenario saturated with persistent inflation, political turbulence, and economic instability turned many currencies into clear symbols of fragility. But what really makes a currency, compared to the real and many others, “the cheapest in the world”? How do some currencies depreciate so much? This text explores the currencies that are truly at rock bottom, the reasons for this free fall, and what it means for those planning to invest or travel to these countries.

Why Do These Currencies Lose So Much Value Compared to the Real?

Longtime followers of financial markets notice that a weak currency is never accidental. It’s always the result of a perfect storm of factors that destroy investor and citizen confidence. Here are the main ones:

Uncontrolled inflation: In Brazil, when inflation hits 7% annually, nerves start to fray. Today, we’re close to 5% in 2025. Now imagine countries where prices double monthly. That’s hyperinflation — a phenomenon that literally consumes savings and wages of entire generations.

Chronic political instability: Coups, internal wars, governments changing annually. Without legal security, foreign investors flee, and the currency becomes just colorful paper, lacking real value. Distrust erodes any recovery efforts.

International economic sanctions: When the global community shuts the door on a country, it loses access to the financial system. The result is inevitable: the local currency becomes practically useless in international trade. We see this especially with intensified American sanctions.

Insufficient foreign exchange reserves: It’s like having very little money in your checking account. If the Central Bank doesn’t have dollars to defend the currency, it collapses. In this scenario, even the value of gold in the vaults matters.

Uncontrolled capital flight: When even citizens prefer to stash dollars informally (“under the mattress”) instead of the local currency, you know the situation is critical. This behavior reflects absolute desperation.

Devalued currencies indicate weakened economies. It’s in this context that the following ranking emerges.

The Ranking: 10 Currencies Most Fragile Compared to the Real

Based on updated exchange data and international economic reports, check out the ten currencies that today have extremely reduced value, severely impairing their populations’ purchasing power:

1. Lebanese Pound (LBP)

Current rate: 1 million LBP = R$ 61.00

Undisputed champion of global depreciation. Officially, the rate is 1,507.5 pounds per dollar, but since the 2020 crisis, that rate doesn’t exist in practice. On the parallel market (where real trades happen), you need 90,000 pounds to get 1 US dollar. Banks limit withdrawals, and merchants only accept dollars. Taxi drivers in Beirut refuse Lebanese pounds, demanding foreign currency. It’s a portrait of a completely discredited economy.

2. Iranian Rial (IRR)

Current rate: R$ 1 = 7,751.94 rials

U.S. sanctions turned the rial into a currency of a developing country. With R$ 100, you become a “millionaire” in rials — a cruel irony. The government tries to control the exchange rate, but street realities show multiple parallel rates. The most interesting phenomenon: many young Iranians have migrated massively to cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum, turning them into more reliable stores of value than the national currency.

3. Vietnamese Dong (VND)

Current rate: About 25,000 VND per dollar

A different case: Vietnam has a growing economy, but the dong remains historically weak due to monetary policy decisions. The funny part: withdrawing 1 million dong from ATMs gives you a volume of paper worthy of a bank robbery movie. For tourists, it’s advantageous: US$50 makes them feel like millionaires. For Vietnamese, it means imports are inaccessible and international purchasing power is limited.

4. Lao Kip (LAK)

Current rate: About 21,000 LAK per dollar

Laos faces a complex situation: a small economy, heavy dependence on imports, and persistent inflation. The kip is so weak that border traders with Thailand prefer to accept Thai baht, ignoring their own currency.

5. Indonesian Rupiah (IDR)

Current rate: About 15,500 IDR per dollar

Indonesia is Southeast Asia’s largest economy, yet the rupiah has never properly strengthened. Since 1998, it’s been among the weakest currencies worldwide. For Brazilian travelers, Bali is extremely cheap. R$200 a day makes you feel like a millionaire there.

6. Uzbek Sum (UZS)

Current rate: About 12,800 UZS per dollar

Uzbekistan has recently implemented significant economic reforms, but the sum still reflects decades of isolated, closed economy. Although the country seeks foreign investment, the currency remains weak and devalued.

7. Guinean Franc (GNF)

Current rate: About 8,600 GNF per dollar

A classic example of resource-rich nations with weak currencies. Guinea has gold and bauxite, but political instability and corruption prevent this wealth from translating into a strong currency and economic respectability.

8. Paraguayan Guarani (PYG)

Current rate: About 7.42 PYG per real

Our neighbor Paraguay maintains a relatively stable economy, despite the guarani’s traditional weakness. For Brazilians, Ciudad del Este remains a shopping paradise for strategic purchases.

9. Malagasy Ariary (MGA)

Current rate: About 4,500 MGA per dollar

Madagascar is one of the poorest nations on the planet, and the ariary reflects that. Imports are prohibitively expensive, and the population’s international purchasing power is virtually nonexistent.

10. Burundian Franc (BIF)

Current rate: About 550.06 BIF per R$ 1.00

Closing the list, a currency so weak that for large transactions, people carry bags full of cash. Burundi’s ongoing political instability is directly reflected in its national currency.