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Vietnamese đồng
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Đồng
Đồng Việt Nam (Vietnamese)
Vietnamese dong paper banknotes and polymer banknotes in denominations from 100 to 500000Vietnamese polymer banknotes in denominations of 50000 - 200000
ISO 4217
CodeVND (numeric: 704)
1989–1990: VNC
Unit
PluralThe language(s) of this currency do(es) not have a morphological plural distinction.
Symbol₫/đ
Denominations
Subunit
110hào (chữ Hán: )
1100xu (from French sou)
both subunits are obsolete due to inflation and have been unused in Vietnam for several decades
Banknotes
 Freq. used1,000₫, 2,000₫, 5,000₫, 10,000₫, 20,000₫, 50,000₫, 100,000₫, 200,000₫, 500,000₫
 Rarely used50₫ (commemorative), 100₫ (commemorative), 100₫, 200₫, 500₫, 500,000₫ (commemorative)
Demographics
User(s) Vietnam
Issuance
Central bankState Bank of Vietnam
 Websitewww.sbv.gov.vn
Valuation
InflationPositive decrease 2.7% (2019)[1]

The dong (Vietnamese: đồng; /dɒŋ/; Vietnamese: [ˀɗɜwŋ͡m˨˩]; sign: or informally đ and sometimes Đ in Vietnamese;[2] code: VND) is the currency of Vietnam, in use since 3 May 1978.[3][4] It is issued by the State Bank of Vietnam.[5] The dong was also the currency of the predecessor states of North Vietnam and South Vietnam, having replaced the previously used French Indochinese piastre.[6][7]

Formerly, it was subdivided into 10 hao (hào), which were further subdivided into 10 xu, neither of which are now used due to inflation. The Vietnamese dong has increasingly moved towards exclusively using banknotes, with lower denominations printed on paper and denominations over 10,000 dong, worth about 40¢ dollar or euro, printed on polymer. As of 2022, no coins are used. Generally, Vietnam is moving towards digital payments.[8][9][10] The 500,000-dong note (VND) is the highest-denomination banknote in circulation in Vietnam.[11] The note is dark blue in color and has been in circulation since 2003.[12][13][14][15]

As of September 2025, the Vietnamese dong is the third-lowest valued currency unit (behind the Iranian rial and the Lebanese pound), with one United States dollar equaling 26,387 dong.[16]

Etymology

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The word đồng is the Sino-Vietnamese word for copper. (Chữ Hán: )

History

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French Indochina

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The piastre (known in Vietnam as "silver"), was the currency of French Indochina between 1885 and 1952.

North Vietnam

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In 1946, the Viet Minh government (later to become the government of North Vietnam) introduced its own currency, the dong, to replace the French Indochinese piastre at par. Two revaluations followed, in 1951 and 1959; the first was at a rate of 100:1, the second at a rate of 1,000:1.

South Vietnam

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South Vietnam 500-dong banknote issued in 1966

Notes dually denominated in piastres and dong were issued in 1953 for the State of Vietnam, which evolved into South Vietnam in 1954. On 22 September 1975, after the fall of Saigon, the currency in South Vietnam was changed to a "liberation dong" worth 500 old Southern dong.

United Vietnam and inflation

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After Vietnam was reunified, the dong was also unified on 3 May 1978. One new dong equalled one Northern dong or 0.8 Southern "liberation" dong.

On 14 September 1985, the dong was revalued again, with one new dong worth 10 old dong. At that time, Vietnamese economists believed that revaluing the currency would increase its value, but it turned out to have the opposite effect: savings of many people were wiped out, the currency experienced unprecedentedly heavy inflation that peaked at 700% in September 1986 and prices skyrocketed. For example, in 1986, the price of agricultural products increased by 2000% compared to ten years before. Aiming to solve this problem, the government banned all forms of non-state-owned internal trade, which they believed to be capitalistic, resulting in an economic crisis so severe that Tố Hữu referred to it as a "vertical downturn".[citation needed] Despite the inflation rates having stabilized as part of the Đổi Mới reforms, especially during the 1990s and early 2000s, the effects of the crisis still last in the value of the dong, one of the lowest in the world today.[17]

Coins

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First dong

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In 1978, aluminum coins dated 1976 were introduced in denominations of 1, 2 and 5 hao, as well as 1 dong. The coins were minted by the Berlin Mint in the German Democratic Republic and bear the state crest on the obverse and denomination on the reverse. Due to the chronic inflation experienced by Vietnam during the 1980s and 1990s, these coins lost all their relevant value and no coins were circulated for many years after this series.

1976 Series
Image Value Technical parameters Description Date of
Diameter Thickness Mass Composition Edge Obverse Reverse First Minting Issue Issue Suspended Withdrawal
1 hao Unknown Aluminum Reeded Coat of arms Denomination 1976 2 May 1978 14 September 1985
2 hao
5 hao
1 dong
These images are to scale at 2.5 pixels per millimetre. For table standards, see the coin specification table.

Second dong

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Commemorative issues

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Commemorative coins in copper, brass, copper-nickel, silver, and gold have been issued since 1986, but none of these have ever been used in circulation.

2003 issue

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The State Bank of Vietnam resumed issuing coins on 17 December 2003.[18] The new coins, minted by the Mint of Finland, were in denominations of 200, 500, 1,000, 2,000, and 5,000 dong in either nickel-clad steel or brass-clad steel. Prior to its reintroduction, Vietnamese consumers had to exchange banknotes for tokens with a clerk before purchasing goods from vending machines. This was also to help the state ease the cost of producing large quantities of small denomination banknotes, which tended to wear easily. Many residents expressed excitement at seeing coins reappear after many years, as well as concern for the limited usefulness of the 200 dong coins due to ongoing inflationary pressures.[19]

Since the launch of the 2003 coin series, the State Bank has had some difficulties with making the acceptance of coins universal despite the partial discontinuation of smaller notes, to the point of some banks refusing coin cash deposits or the cashing in of large numbers of coins. This has prompted laws requiring private and municipal banks to transact and offer services for coins and the full discontinuation of small denomination and cotton-based notes. Also, the coins did not gain popularity from the Vietnamese people.[20] Eventually, State Bank of Vietnam withdrew its distribution in April 2011.[21][22]

2003 Series[18]
Image Value Technical Parameters Description Date of
Diameter Thickness Mass Composition Edge Obverse Reverse First Minting Issue Issue Suspended Withdrawal
[23][24] 200 dong 20 mm 1.45 mm 3.2 g Nickel-plated steel Plain Coat of arms Denomination 2003 17 December 2003 April 2011 Very rare, partly withdrawn out of circulation
500 dong 22 mm 1.75 mm 4.5 g Nickel-plated steel Segmented (3 groups) 1 April 2004
[25][26] 1,000 dong 19 mm 1.95 mm 3.8 g Brass-plated steel Reeded Coat of arms Water Temple, Đô Temple 2003 17 December 2003 April 2011 Very rare, partly withdrawn out of circulation
[27][28] 2,000 dong 23.5 mm 1.8 mm 5.1 g Brass-plated steel Segmented (6 groups) Highland Stilt house in Tay Nguyen 1 April 2004
5,000 dong 25.5 mm 2.2 mm 7.7 g Brass (Cu92Al6Ni2) Micro-scalloped Một Cột Pagoda (One Pillar Pagoda) 17 December 2003
These images are to scale at 2.5 pixels per millimetre. For table standards, see the coin specification table.

Banknotes

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Bearer's checks 1992–2002

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To support the growing industrial need for large money transactions, the State Bank issued "Bearer's Checks" or "State Bank Settlement Checks" (Ngân Phiếu Thanh Toán) in denominations from 100,000 to 5,000,000 dong.[36] To prevent counterfeiting, these notes had many degrees of protection, their designs were changed every five to six months, and they had expiration dates five or six months after the date of issue. The checks worked until the banking system was upgraded to handle electronic transfers of large amounts of đồng, making most large transactions unnecessary.

Currency devaluation

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In November 2009, the Vietnamese government decided to devalue the Vietnamese dong by 5% and at the same time raise interest rates to 8%. This was seen as a move that could destabilize the financial markets in Asia, as economies in the region were competing for an advantage over the European and American markets.[37]

On 11 February 2010, the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) adjusted the interbank exchange rate between the Vietnamese dong (VND) and the US dollar (USD) to 18,544 VND/USD, a devaluation of 3.25% from the previous rate of 17,941 VND/USD.[38] 17 August 2010, The SBV further devalued the VND by 2.04% to 18,932 VND/USD, an increase of 388 dong from the previous rate.[38][39]

On 11 February 2011, the SBV announced a decision to increase the interbank exchange rate between USD and VND from 18,932 VND to 20,693 VND (a 9.3% increase).[40][41][42][43] Along with that, the SBV also narrowed the applicable range for the exchange rates of commercial banks from ±3% to ±1%.[44] However, by 19 February 2011, the USD exchange rate on the black market was 22,300 VND.[citation needed]

2022 to 2024

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In response to increasing pressure on the Vietnamese dong as a result of high inflation in the US, on 17 October 2022, the decision was made to increase the dong's trading band from 3 to 5 percent. As a result, from 16 October to 24 October the currency lost 2.98 percent of its value falling from 24,135 to 24,845 Vietnamese dong to the dollar.[45] This decline has continued into 2024 with the dong losing about 4.5 percent of its value between 1 January 2024, and the end of July.[46]

Exchange rate

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Current VND exchange rates
From Google Finance: AUD CAD CHF CNY EUR GBP HKD JPY USD INR KRW
From Yahoo! Finance: AUD CAD CHF CNY EUR GBP HKD JPY USD INR KRW
From XE.com: AUD CAD CHF CNY EUR GBP HKD JPY USD INR KRW
From OANDA: AUD CAD CHF CNY EUR GBP HKD JPY USD INR KRW

After the revaluation of the Zimbabwean dollar on 1 August 2006,[47] the dong became the least valued currency unit for months. Around 21 March 2007, the revalued Zimbabwean dollar regained least valued currency status (in terms of black market exchange rate), and on 7 September 2007 in terms of official exchange rate. After the use of the Zimbabwean dollar ceased on 12 April 2009,[48] the dong was the second least valued currency unit after the Iranian rial as of 28 November 2014. Since 19 June 2014, the Vietnamese dong has been devalued a total of five times in an effort to help spur exports and to ensure the stability of the currency.[49]

Year USD Exchange Rate
1960 97
1970 410
1980 2,050
1990 6,500
2000 14,428
2010 19,495
2020 23,173
2022 22,862
2024 25,287
August 2024 25,135
January 2025 25,270
June 2025 26,095

Sources: tradingeconomics.com,[full citation needed] imf.org[full citation needed]

See also

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References

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