Image Courtesy Of Visual Capitalist
In 2024, many currency pairs fell to unexpected lows amid a strong U.S. dollar—including the euro falling to near parity.
This article was written by Dorothy Neufeld and originally published by Visual Capitalist.
This reflected America’s economic strength against the backdrop of sluggish eurozone growth and subdued economic activity in China. Adding to this, President Trump’s return to the White House spurred a dollar rally given the impact of proposed tariffs and renewed optimism about the U.S. economy.
This graphic shows the performance of major currencies against the U.S. dollar in 2024, based on data from TradingView.
Global Currency Returns in 2024
Below, we show how the vast majority of major currencies weakened against the dollar in 2024 amid elevated U.S. interest rates:
| Country | Currency | 2024 Return |
|---|---|---|
| U.S. Dollar Index | 7.1% | |
| Great British Pound | -1.7% | |
| Mexican Peso | -2.0% | |
| Chinese Yuan | -2.8% | |
| Indian Rupee | -2.8% | |
| South African Rand | -3.7% | |
| Euro | -6.2% | |
| Swiss Franc | -7.3% | |
| Canadian Dollar | -7.9% | |
| Australian Dollar | -9.1% | |
| Japanese Yen | -10.3% | |
| New Zealand Dollar | -11.4% | |
| South Korean Won | -12.4% | |
| Russian Ruble | -18.6% | |
| Brazilian Real | -21.6% |
As one of the top-performing currencies against the dollar, the pound fell 1.7% in 2024 given a resilient UK economy.
Expectations surrounding UK and U.S. interest rates largely moved in tandem over the year, which also limited divergences between the two currencies. This is because bond yields typically influence demand for currencies with similar risk and return characteristics.
Meanwhile, the Canadian dollar sank to a multi-year low of $0.69 USD in December amid looming tariffs. As one of America’s largest trading partners, Canada’s dollar has weakened notably in recent months ahead of a potential 25% tariff on exports, with energy commodities making up the majority of Canada’s trade surplus.
When it comes to one of the worst-performing major currencies, the Brazilian real sank to historic lows against the U.S. dollar in 2024 amid investor concerns of a rapidly widening government deficit and stubbornly high inflation.
Looking ahead, the real is expected to remain under pressure amid unsustainable public debt and tight credit conditions. In December, the Brazilian central bank raised interest rates to 12.25% in efforts to curb inflation, and some estimates predict it could jump to 14.25% by March, reaching an eight-year high.
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