EUROSPENDINGEuro Economics
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2026-05-23

Exchange rates (EUR/USD, EUR/GBP)

What one euro buys in dollars and pounds — the external value of the currency.

An exchange rate is the price of one currency in terms of another. EUR/USD is how many US dollars one euro buys; EUR/GBP is how many pounds. These are the ECB's daily reference rates.

What moves them

Internal vs external value

Inflation measures the euro's internal value (what it buys at home); the exchange rate is its external value (what it buys abroad). A currency can hold up against peers while still losing purchasing power at home if those peers are inflating too. Both views matter when judging the health of the euro.

Source: ECB reference exchange rates, daily.

#explainer#monetary