Yemeni rial facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Yemeni rial
1000 Yemeni rial banknote
ISO 4217 Code	YER
User(s)	Yemen
Inflation	16.8%
Source	2023
Superunit
10	dinar
Subunit
1⁄100	fils
Symbol	﷼ or YRl/YRls
Coins	YRl 1, YRls 5, YRls 10, YRls 20
Banknotes	YRls 50, YRls 100, YRls 200, YRls 250, YRls 500, YRls 1,000

The rial (Arabic: ريال يمني) is the official money of Yemen. Its symbol is ﷼. You might also see it written as YRl (for one rial) or YRls (for many rials). In Arabic, it's written as ,ر.ي.

Even though it's technically divided into 100 smaller units called fils, fils coins haven't been made since North and South Yemen joined together. Because of ongoing challenges in Yemen, the value of the rial has changed a lot.

The civil war in Yemen has caused the currency to act differently in different parts of the country. In southern Yemen, where certain groups are in control, new money has been printed. This has made the value of the rial go down. But in northern Yemen, where another group is in charge, banknotes printed after 2017 are not accepted as official money. This has helped the exchange rate stay more steady there. You can tell the difference between older and newer banknotes by their size.

History of the Yemeni Rial

Early Money in Yemen

Long ago, in the 1700s and 1800s, the "rial" was often linked to a coin called the Maria Theresa thaler. This coin was very popular in Yemen. People used it a lot because Yemen traded coffee with the French, and the Yemenis wanted to be paid in these thalers.

Uniting Currencies

As Yemen grew, it started making its own official money. In 1990, North Yemen and South Yemen became one country. For a while, both the northern rial and the southern dinar were still used. One dinar was worth 26 rials. But on June 11, 1996, the dinar was taken out of use.

In 1993, the new, united Republic of Yemen made its first coins. The value of the Yemeni rial compared to the United States dollar changed a lot. In the early 1990s, about 12 rials were equal to one US dollar.

Rial's Value Over Time

Since the mid-1990s, you could freely exchange the Yemeni rial. Its value went from about 20 rials to 215 rials for one US dollar. It stayed stable for some years. However, after 2010, the Central Bank of Yemen had to step in many times to try and keep the rial's value strong. This used up a lot of the country's money reserves. Because of the war, the exchange rate for the Yemeni rial has been between 250 and 500 rials for one US dollar.

Coins of Yemen

Before Yemen became one country, North Yemen had coins like 1, 5, 10, 25, and 50 fils, and 1 rial. The fils coins are not used anymore. In 1993, the Central Bank of Yemen introduced new coins for 1 and 5 rials. Then came 10-rial coins in 1995 and 20-rial coins in 2004.

Recently, a new 100 riyal coin was announced by one of the groups in Yemen. This was a big deal because no new coins had been made for almost ten years.

YRl 1	YRls 5	YRls 10	YRls 20

Banknotes of Yemen

When Yemen united, the Central Bank of Yemen printed banknotes for 1, 5, 10, 20, 50, and 100 rials. Over time, some of these notes were replaced by coins. For example, 1 and 5 rial notes were replaced in 1993. The 10 rial notes were replaced in 1995, and 20 rial notes in 2004.

New banknotes were also introduced. In 1996, 200 rial notes came out. Then 500 rials in 1997 and 1,000 rials in 1998. A 250 rial banknote was printed in 2009.

In 2017, the Central Bank of Yemen, which had moved its main office, released new 500 and 1,000 rial banknotes. These new notes had updated security features and were different sizes. In 2018, the Central Bank brought back the 200 rial banknote and also issued a new 100 rial banknote.

Banknotes you might see (1994–2009)
Image		Value	Main Colour	What's on it		When it was
Front	Back			Front	Back	Printed	Issued
		YRls 10	Blue and black	Al Baqilyah Mosque	Marib Dam	1992
		YRls 20	Dark brown	Sculpture of Dionysus with grapes	A dhow in Aden Harbor	1995
		YRls 50	Olive-green	Statue of Ma'adkarib	Shibam city, Hadramaut	1993
		YRls 50	Olive-green	Bronze statue of Ma'adkarib, ancient king of Haram	Shibam city, Hadramaut	1994
		YRls 100	Purple	Cisterns of Tawila, Aden	City view of Sana'a with mosque minaret and mountains	1993
		YRls 100	Red and violet	Dragon Blood Tree of Socotra. Qamariya stained glass window art. Outline of a mosque as a latent image.	Terraced agricultural farming fields. Queen Arwa Mosque Mihrab decorated niche	2018
		YRls 200	Green	Alabaster sculpture	Mukalla	1996
		YRls 200	Yellow	Zabid fortress, Al Hudaydah Governorate	Hawf, Al Mahrah Governorate	2018	August 2018
		YRls 250	Orange & blue	Al-Saleh mosque, Sana'a	Khor Al-Mukalla	2009	November 14, 2009
		YRIs 500	Purple	Central Bank building, Sana'a	Throne of Queen Bilqis in Ma'rib	1997
		YRls 500	Blue	Dar al-Hajr (Palace of the Rock)	Al-Muhdhar Mosque, Tarim	2001
		YRls 500	Cyan	Dar al-Hajr (Palace of the Rock)	Al-Muhdhar Mosque, Tarim	2007
		YRls 500	Light Cyan	Al-Muhdhar Mosque, Tarim	Dar al-Hajar	2017
		YRls 1,000	Green & yellow	Seiyun Palace, Hadhramaut	Bab al-Yaman, San'a	1998 2004 2009 2017	August 2010

See Also

• Economy of Yemen
• Ahmed A AL-Samawi
• Omani rial
• Saudi riyal