Meet the 10 Weakest Coins on the Planet in 2025

Have you ever stopped to think about what happens when trust disappears from an economy? Well, there are places in the world where the population lives this reality every day. A friend of mine traveled through Lebanon last week and sent me a photo that sums it all up: he was holding a bundle of notes so bulky it looked like Monopoly money, but they were just Lebanese pounds worth about R$ 3.00. Meanwhile, here in Brazil, we complain about the dollar above R$ 5.40 and the devaluation of the real in 2024 (which was the worst among major global currencies with a drop of 21.52%), in many nations the situation is exponentially more severe.

In 2025, the international scenario shows economies that have lost practically all international purchasing power. But what is really the root of this fragility? Why do some currencies turn into worthless paper? And more importantly: what does this mean for those who invest or travel to these destinations?

The Pillars of Monetary Devaluation

When we follow financial markets long enough, it becomes clear that a weak currency is never a coincidence. It is always the result of a perfect storm of economic and political problems that destroy trust:

Galloping Inflation: While Brazil experiences inflation around 5% in 2025, there are countries where prices explode monthly. Hyperinflation is what it’s called—a cancer that devours assets, salaries, and savings hopes.

Collapse of Political Stability: Coups, internal conflicts, unstable governments. When legal security is lacking, investors run away and the currency becomes pure risk speculation.

Global Economic Isolation: International sanctions cut off access to the global financial system. The local currency loses all utility in international trade, and people desperately seek alternatives.

Empty International Reserves: Without enough dollars in the Central Bank’s vault, there’s no way to defend the currency. The predictable result: continuous collapse.

Capital Exodus: When even citizens prefer to store foreign currency under the mattress instead of using the national currency, you know the breaking point has been reached.

The Ranking of the Weakest Currencies in 2025

Based on contemporary exchange data and international economic analyses, here are the currencies that today carry the weight of global instability:

1. Lebanese Pound (LBP)

The personification of maximum devaluation. Officially, the rate is 1,507.5 per dollar, but this quote doesn’t exist in practice. In the real market, you need more than 90,000 pounds for a single dollar. Banks limit withdrawals, stores only accept foreign dollars, and Uber drivers in Beirut refuse the local currency. It’s the ultimate symbol of collapse.

2. Iranian Rial (IRR)

American sanctions caused the rial to plummet to speculative levels. With R$ 100, you officially become a “millionaire” in rials—but that million buys nothing. The response from young Iranians? Mass migration to bitcoin and ethereum, assets that the community sees as more reliable stores of value than the state currency.

3. Vietnamese Dong (VND)

An intriguing case: Vietnam’s economy grows, but the dong remains historically weak by design of monetary policy. Withdrawing 1 million dongs from an ATM has become a meme among tourists—it looks like money from a fiction series. For Vietnamese, it means astronomical imports and virtually zero international purchasing power.

4. Lao Kip (LAK)

Laos suffers from a small economy, dependence on imports, and persistent inflation. The kip is so weak that traders at the Thai border refuse it, preferring baht.

5. Indonesian Rupiah (IDR)

The largest economy in Southeast Asia has never managed to strengthen its currency. Since the 1998 crisis, it has been permanently among the weakest globally. Advantage: Bali becomes a luxury vacation spot with a minimal budget for Brazilian tourists.

6. Uzbek Sum (UZS)

Uzbekistan has made important reforms in recent years, but the sum still carries the legacy of decades of isolated economy. Despite efforts to attract investment, the currency remains fragile.

7. Guinean Franc (GNF)

The paradox of abundance: Guinea has gold and bauxite, but political instability and corruption prevent natural wealth from translating into a strong currency. Natural resources are worth little without governance.

8. Paraguayan Guarani (PYG)

Our neighbor has traditionally weak guarani. For Brazilians, it means Ciudad del Este continues to be the cheap international shopping destination.

9. Malagasy Ariary (MGA)

Madagascar is among the poorest nations in the world, and its ariary literally reflects that. Imports become prohibitive, and international purchasing power is practically nonexistent.

10. Burundian Franc (BIF)

Closing the ranking: a currency so devalued that for larger transactions, people carry physical money in bags. The country’s chronic instability is directly reflected in the currency’s value.

What Brazil Can Learn from This

This ranking is not just a financial curiosity—it’s a mirror of how politics, governance, and trust matter. For Brazilian investors, three practical lessons emerge:

First: fragile economies with weak currencies around the world may seem like buying opportunities, but the reality is they live in deep structural crises. Is the risk worth it?

Second: tourism in destinations with devalued currencies has become a real economic advantage. With the dollar or real, you access amplified purchasing power.

Third: following monetary collapses is a free macroeconomics masterclass. Inflation, corruption, political instability cease to be abstract concepts and become numbers that affect billions of real people.

The truth is that protecting your assets means diversifying beyond national currencies. Assets that cross borders, that are not affected by local inflation, that operate independently of which government is in power—these are becoming increasingly relevant in a world where weak currencies are symptoms of a much bigger problem.

Want to deepen this analysis? Follow our content and discover not only which currencies are breaking but also where resilient economies are, how to protect yourself from inflation, and how to position your investments for the next moves in the global market.