Euro (currency)

Euro
евро (Bulgarian), eoró (Irish), ευρώ (Greek), euró (Hungarian), eiro (Latvian), euras (Lithuanian), ewro (Maltese), evro (Slovene)
Euro banknotes as of 2017[update]
ISO 4217
Code	EUR
Number	978
Exponent	2
Denominations
Subunit
1/100	cent Actual usage varies depending on language
Plural	See Euro linguistic issues
cent	See article
Symbol	€
Nickname	The single currency local names Evró (Greek) Euró (Hungarian) Eiro (Latvian) Euras (Lithuanian) Ewro (Maltese)
Banknotes	€5, €10, €20, €50, €100, €200, €500
Coins	1c, 2c, 5c, 10c, 20c, 50c, €1, €2
Demographics
Official user(s)	Eurozone (19)  Austria  Belgium  Cyprus  Estonia  Finland  France  Germany  Greece  Ireland  Italy  Latvia  Lithuania  Luxembourg  Malta  Netherlands  Portugal  Slovakia  Slovenia  Spain Monetary agreement (9)  Andorra  Monaco  San Marino   Vatican City Akrotiri and Dhekelia (United Kingdom) Clipperton Island (France) Saint Barthélemy (France) French Southern and Antarctic Lands (France) Saint Pierre and Miquelon (France)
Unofficial user(s)	Unilateral adoption (2)  Kosovo  Montenegro Other partial users (2)  Northern Cyprus  Zimbabwe
Issuance
Central bank	European Central Bank
Website	www.ecb.europa.eu
Printer	Several Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato Banco de Portugal Bank of Greece Banque de France Bundesdruckerei Central Bank of Ireland De La Rue Fábrica Nacional de Moneda y Timbre François-Charles Oberthur Giesecke & Devrient Royal Joh. Enschedé National Bank of Belgium Oesterreichische Banknoten- und Sicherheitsdruck GmbH Setec Oy
Website	Several Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato Banco de Portugal – Imprensa Nacional / Casa da Moeda Bank of Greece Banque de France Bundesdruckerei Central Bank and Financial Services Authority of Ireland De La Rue Fábrica Nacional de Moneda y Timbre François-Charles Oberthur Giesecke & Devrient Royal Joh. Enschedé National Bank of Belgium Oesterreichische Banknoten- und Sicherheitsdruck GmbH Setec Oy
Mint	Several Bayerisches Hauptmünzamt, Munich (Mint mark: D) Currency Centre Fábrica Nacional de Moneda y Timbre Hamburgische Münze (J) Imprensa Nacional Casa da Moeda SA Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato Koninklijke Nederlandse Munt Koninklijke Munt van België/Monnaie Royale de Belgique Mincovňa Kremnica Monnaie de Paris Münze Österreich Rahapaja Oy/Myntverket i Finland Ab Staatliche Münze Berlin (A) Staatliche Münze Karlsruhe (G) Staatliche Münze Stuttgart (F) Lithuanian Mint
Website	Several Munich mint Currency Centre Fábrica Nacional de Moneda y Timbre Hamburg mint Imprensa Nacional – Casa da Moeda SA Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato Koninklijke Nederlandse Munt Koninklijke Munt van België/Monnaie Royale de Belgique Monnaie de Paris Münze Österreich Rahapaja Oy/Myntverket i Finland Ab Berlin mint Karlsruhe-Stuttgart mints Lithuanian mint
Valuation
Inflation	2.0% (February 2017)
Source	February 2017
Method	HICP
Pegged by	11 currencies Bosnia & Herz. convertible mark Bulgarian lev Cape Verdean escudo Central African CFA franc CFP franc Comorian franc Danish krone (±2.25%) Moroccan dirham São Tomé and Príncipe dobra West African CFA franc

The single currency

The euro (sign: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of the eurozone, which consists of 19 of the 28 member states of the European Union: Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Spain. The currency is also officially used by the institutions of the European Union and four other European countries, as well as unilaterally by two others, and is consequently used daily by some 337 million Europeans as of 2015^[update]. Outside of Europe, a number of overseas territories of EU members also use the euro as their currency.

Additionally, 210 million people worldwide as of 2013^[update] use currencies pegged to the euro. The euro is the second largest reserve currency as well as the second most traded currency in the world after the United States dollar. As of January 2017^[update], with more than €1,109,000,000,000 in circulation, the euro has one of the highest combined values of banknotes and coins in circulation in the world, having surpassed the U.S. dollar at one point.

The name euro was officially adopted on 16 December 1995 in Madrid. The euro was introduced to world financial markets as an accounting currency on 1 January 1999, replacing the former European Currency Unit (ECU) at a ratio of 1:1 (US$1.1743). Physical euro coins and banknotes entered into circulation on 1 January 2002, making it the day-to-day operating currency of its original members, and by May 2002 had completely replaced the former currencies. While the euro dropped subsequently to US$0.8252 within two years (26 October 2000), it has traded above the U.S. dollar since the end of 2002, peaking at US$1.6038 on 18 July 2008. Since late 2009, the euro has been immersed in the European sovereign-debt crisis which has led to the creation of the European Financial Stability Facility as well as other reforms aimed at stabilising the currency. In July 2012, the euro fell below US$1.21 for the first time in two years, following concerns raised over Greek debt and Spain's troubled banking sector. As of April 2017, the euro–dollar exchange rate stands at ~ US$1.06.