Brazilian Currency| Home | Currency Converter | Brazilian Banknotes/Coins |

Brazil's currency unit is the real (plural = reais) and is made up of 100 centavos and written using the symbol R$. The currency exchange symbol for the real is BRL.  The real has been relatively stable for Brazil since its introduction in June, 1994. The rampant inflation of the early 1990's (often amounting to over 1% per day) is now only a distant memory.

The real is issued in denominations of 1 real (as both a note that is no longer being produced and a coin), 2 reais, 5 reais, 10 reais, 20 reais, 50 reais and 100 reais notes. Centavos are issued in denominations of 1 centavo (no longer produced and now VERY rare), 5 centavos, 10 centavos,  25 centavos and 50 centavos.

As of the end of 2009, the U.S. dollar was near an eight year low against the real, having lost a whopping 34% of its value during 2009 alone. Over the past year, the exchange rate of the U.S. dollar (USD) has fluctuated from a low of (BRL) R$1.6974  to a high of (BRL) R$2.3373. During the first quarter of 2010, the  U.S. dollar has been generally maintaining a day-by-day exchange rate of from (BRL) R$1.75  to (BRL) R$1.80.

For the latest, up to the minute exchange rate for the Brazilian real to/from US dollars, euros, British pounds, Japanese yen, etc., visit our online Currency Converter. and (for historical exchange rates of up to five years)  visit http://finance.yahoo.com/currency. Information about Brazilian banking and banks is also available as well as samples of all the most current Brazilian banknotes and coins in circulation including their reverse / obverse sides. Also included are the designs of new series of banknotes that will start being issued in 2010.

You may see different exchange rates listed in various places as commercial, tourist and/or parallel. All are usually within a few points of the others. The commercial rate is the rate most often used in commercial transactions as well as the one most often used (but not always) by online currency converters. The tourist rate is just what it implies, the exchange rate a tourist can expect if exchanging, for example, dollars for reais at an airport, bank, hotel, authorized money exchange or travel agency. The tourist rate is usually a little less than the commercial rate. The parallel rate is often the basis used by cambistas (black market money changers). For all rates, there is also a different rate depending upon whether you're buying or selling reais or buying or selling another currency (e.g. dollars, euros, pounds, yen, etc.).

Caution! Especially when dealing with money, keep in mind that, in Brazil, the use of commas (,) and periods (.) expressed in numerals is exactly the opposite of what is used in the United States. Brazilians use a period (.) instead of a comma (,) —to delineate thousands— and a comma (,) instead of a period (.) —to delineate fractions. Normally, an amount in reais is written as R$, consequently, R$ 6,00 (with a comma) is six reais and R$ 6.000 (with a period) is six thousand reais. Likewise, for amounts with fractions (centavos), it's 1.045,25 instead of 1,045.25 (one thousand, forty five reais and twenty five centavos) or R$ 10,25 instead of R$ 10.25 (ten reais and twenty five centavos).