It's Not Just the Dollar: The Birr Is Losing Ground Fastest to the Australian Dollar and the Yuan

Ask most people which currency the Birr has fallen against the hardest over the past year, and they'll say the dollar. The data says otherwise.

A Birr Metrics analysis of National Bank of Ethiopia exchange-rate data from August 20, 2025 to August 20, 2026 ranks the Birr's depreciation against 19 currencies — and the US dollar comes in 14th, not first.

The actual ranking

By percentage increase in Birr price over the year:

1. Australian dollar — up 25.74%
2. Norwegian krone — up 25.65%
3. South African rand — up 24.09%
4. Chinese yuan — up 22.44%
5. …
6. US dollar — up 14.72%

For context: the Kenyan shilling strengthened 16.48% against the Birr — meaning the Birr's weakness isn't confined to major reserve currencies, it extends to regional commercial centers like Nairobi. At the other end, the Indian rupee moved just 4.68% and the Japanese yen only 6.59% — the two clear outliers on the list.

The UAE dirham and Saudi riyal rose 14.74% and 15.20% respectively — tracking the dollar closely, as expected from their dollar-peg arrangements.

Why the yuan number is the one to watch

The dollar gets the attention because it's the reference currency everyone quotes. But the yuan's 22.44% rise is arguably the more consequential number for ordinary Ethiopian businesses and households: China is a primary source of machinery, equipment, and consumer goods. A Birr that's weakened against the yuan faster than against the dollar means the cost of Chinese imports — which make up a large share of what actually gets bought — has climbed correspondingly faster than dollar-denominated headlines suggest.

The math that trips people up

One clarification the data invites: a 25% rise in a foreign currency's Birr price is not the same as a 25% decline in the Birr's purchasing power against it — because the two are reciprocals. A currency that costs 25% more in Birr terms reflects roughly a 20% decline in what a Birr buys of that currency. The distinction matters for anyone doing back-of-envelope math on import costs or savings erosion.

Sources:

• Birr Metrics — "Which Currency Is the Birr Really Falling Fastest Against?"
• Underlying data: National Bank of Ethiopia exchange-rate series, August 20, 2025 – August 20,

2026 (via Birr Metrics' analysis)

Editorial note: The full 19-currency ranking (positions 5–13) wasn't available in Birr Metrics' published piece — only the top four, the US dollar's rank/value, and the named outliers. Confirm the complete table with Birr Metrics or the NBE series directly if the full ranking is needed.