Vietnamese đồng facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Vietnamese đồng
The 100,000 VND banknote, first issued in 2004
ISO 4217 Code	VND
User(s)	Vietnam
Inflation	▼ 2.7% (2019)
Subunit
1⁄10	hào
1⁄100	xu both subunits are obsolete due to inflation and have been unused in Vietnam for several decades
Symbol	₫/đ
Plural	The language(s) of this currency does not have a morphological plural distinction.
Coins
Rarely used	200, 500, 1,000, 2,000, 5,000 đồng
Banknotes
Freq. used	1,000, 2,000, 5,000, 10,000, 20,000, 50,000, 100,000, 200,000, 500,000 đồng
Rarely used	100, 200, 500 đồng

The dong (Vietnamese: đồng) is the official money of Vietnam. It has been used since May 3, 1978. The State Bank of Vietnam is in charge of printing and managing it. Before the dong, Vietnam used a currency called the French Indochinese piastre.

In the past, one dong was divided into 10 hao, and one hao was divided into 10 xu. However, because prices went up a lot (this is called inflation), these smaller units are no longer used. Today, Vietnam mostly uses paper money, called banknotes. Banknotes worth more than 10,000 dong are made from a special plastic material called polymer. This makes them last longer.

As of 2022, coins are not commonly used in Vietnam. People are also starting to use digital payments more often. The 500,000-dong banknote is the largest amount of money you can find in Vietnam. It is dark blue and has been used since 2003.

In August 2024, the Vietnamese dong was one of the lowest-valued currencies in the world. For example, one United States dollar was worth about 25,135 dong.

The History of the Dong Currency

Money Before the Dong

The French Indochinese piastre was the money used in French Indochina (which included Vietnam) from 1885 to 1952. Vietnamese people often called it "silver."

North and South Vietnam's Money

After 1946, the government of North Vietnam created its own money, also called the dong. This replaced the French piastre. The value of the dong was changed twice, in 1951 and 1959. Each time, the new dong was worth much more than the old one.

In South Vietnam, special banknotes were made in 1953. These notes showed values in both piastres and dong. After the war ended in 1975, South Vietnam changed its money to a "liberation dong." One liberation dong was worth 500 old Southern dong.

South Vietnam 500 dong banknote issued in 1966.

Uniting the Dong and Inflation

When Vietnam became one country again, the dong currency was also united on May 3, 1978. One new dong was equal to one North Vietnamese dong. It was also worth 0.8 of the Southern "liberation" dong.

On September 14, 1985, the dong's value was changed again. One new dong was worth 10 old dong. People thought this would make the money stronger, but the opposite happened. Prices went up very quickly, reaching 700% in September 1986. This meant that things cost 7 times more than before! Many people lost their savings.

For example, in 1986, the price of farm products was 20 times higher than ten years earlier. To fix this, the government stopped most private trading. This led to a very serious economic problem. Even though prices have become more stable since the 1990s, the dong's value is still one of the lowest in the world today.

Coins of Vietnam

Early Dong Coins (1978)

In 1978, Vietnam introduced aluminum coins. These coins were dated 1976 and came in values of 1, 2, and 5 hao, plus 1 dong. They were made in Germany. However, because of high inflation in the 1980s and 1990s, these coins quickly lost their value. For many years, no coins were used in Vietnam.

New Coins (2003)

The State Bank of Vietnam started making coins again on December 17, 2003. These new coins were made in Finland. They came in values of 200, 500, 1,000, 2,000, and 5,000 dong. They were made from steel with nickel or brass coatings.

The idea was to make it easier for people to use vending machines. It also helped the government save money because small banknotes wore out quickly. Many people were excited to see coins again. However, the 200 dong coin was not very useful because its value was too small due to ongoing inflation.

Banks sometimes refused to accept large amounts of coins. So, new laws were made to ensure banks would handle coins. Even with these efforts, coins did not become very popular. In April 2011, the State Bank of Vietnam stopped giving out these coins.

Banknotes of Vietnam

First Dong Banknotes (1978-1981)

In 1978, the State Bank of Vietnam released new banknotes. These included values of 5 hao, 1, 5, 10, 20, and 50 dong. Later, 2 and 10 dong notes were added in 1980, and 30 and 100 dong notes in 1981. These banknotes were stopped in 1985 because they lost their value due to inflation.

Second Dong Banknotes (1985 onwards)

In 1985, new banknotes were printed. These included values from 5 hao up to 500 dong. As inflation continued, even higher value notes were needed. So, 200, 1,000, 2,000, and 5,000 dong notes came out in 1987. Then, 10,000 and 50,000 dong notes appeared in 1990. A 20,000 dong note was added in 1991, and a 100,000 dong note in 1994.

The highest value notes, 500,000 dong and 200,000 dong, were released in 2003 and 2006. Banknotes worth 5,000 dong or less are no longer printed, but you can still see them being used.

On June 7, 2007, the government stopped issuing the cotton 50,000 and 100,000 dong notes. They were completely removed from use by September 1, 2007. The 10,000 and 20,000 dong cotton notes also stopped being used after January 1, 2013.

Modern Polymer Banknotes (2003 onwards)

In 2003, Vietnam started to replace its old cotton banknotes with new ones made from plastic polymer. The government said this would make printing cheaper. However, some newspapers criticized this change. They pointed out printing mistakes and suggested that some people close to the government might have unfairly benefited from the new printing contracts. The government responded by temporarily stopping some newspapers from publishing.

Even though the new polymer notes have replaced the old ones for higher values, the cotton banknotes of 200, 500, 1,000, 2,000, and 5,000 dong are still widely accepted.

The 100-dong bill is still technically valid, but it's worth so little (about 0.004 US dollars) that it's almost never used. People mostly keep it as a collector's item.

In 2001, a special 50-dong polymer banknote was made to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the State Bank of Vietnam. It was mainly for collectors because its value was so small. In 2016, a 100-dong paper banknote was issued for the 65th anniversary of central banking.

What is Currency Devaluation?

Currency devaluation means that a country's money becomes worth less compared to other currencies. This can happen when a government decides to change its exchange rate.

In November 2009, the Vietnamese government decided to make the dong worth 5% less. At the same time, they raised interest rates. This was done to help Vietnam's economy, but it also worried other countries in Asia.

On February 11, 2010, the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) changed the exchange rate again. The dong became 3.25% less valuable against the United States dollar. On August 17, 2010, the SBV devalued the dong even more, by 2.04%.

On February 11, 2011, the SBV announced another big change. The dong became 9.3% less valuable against the US dollar. This meant that you needed more dong to buy one US dollar.

Dong Value from 2022 to 2024

In October 2022, the dong faced pressure because of high inflation in the US. To help, Vietnam increased the range within which the dong could be traded. As a result, the dong lost about 2.98% of its value in just one week. This trend continued into 2024, with the dong losing about 4.5% of its value between January and July 2024.

Exchange Rate of the Dong

After the Zimbabwean dollar was revalued in 2006, the dong became the currency with the lowest value for a few months. Later, the Zimbabwean dollar regained that status. After the Zimbabwean dollar stopped being used in 2009, the Vietnamese dong became the second lowest-valued currency, after the Iranian rial.

Since June 2014, the Vietnamese dong has been devalued five times. This was done to help boost Vietnam's exports and keep the currency stable.

See also

• Economy of Vietnam
• Vietnamese cash
• VND Index