History of the Iraqi Dinar

1932

Currency unit consisting of 1,000 fils or 20 dirhams. When officially introduced at the end of the British mandate (1932), the Iraqi dinar was equal to, and was linked to, the British pound sterling, which at that time was equal to US$4.86.

1932–1949
1949–1971

Iraqi dinar (ID) equaled US$4.86 between 1932 and 1949 and after devaluation in 1949, equaled US$2.80 between 1949 and 1971.

1959–1967

Iraq officially uncoupled the Iraqi Dinar from the pound sterling as a gesture of independence in 1959, but the Iraqi dinar remained at parity with the pound until the British unit of currency was again devalued in 1967.

1971

One Iraqi dinar remained equal to US$2.80 until December 1971, when major realignments of world currencies began.

1973

Upon the devaluation of the United States dollar in 1973, the Iraqi Dinar appreciated to US$3.39.

1980

It remained at this level until the outbreak of the Iran-Iraq War in 1980.

1982

In 1982 Iraq devalued the dinar by 5 percent, to a value equal to US$3.22, and sustained this official exchange rate without additional devaluation despite mounting debt.

1988

In early 1988, the official dinar-dollar exchange rate was still Iraqi dinar (ID)1 to US$3.22; however, with estimates of the nation’s inflation rate ranging from 25 percent to 50 percent per year in 1985 and 1986, the dinar’s real transaction value, or black market exchange rate, was far lower-only about half the 1986 official rate.

1986–2003

1986–2003 between .33 cents to 1.32 to a dollar.

2001

Oil-production: 2.452 million bbl/day (2001 est.); note — production was disrupted as a result of the March-April 2003 war (2001 est.)

2002

GDP: purchasing power parity — $58 billion (2002 est.)

2002

Exports–partners:US 40.9%, Canada 8.2%, France 8.2%, Jordan 7.5%, Netherlands 6.4%, Italy 5.4%, Morocco 4.7%, Spain 4.4% (2002)

2003

In october 2003, the official Dinar-dollar exchange rate was ID1 to US$0.00027.

2004–2005

August 2004 till 2005, the official dinar-dollar exchange rate is ID1 to US$0.00068. Population: 25,374,691 (July 2004 est.)

2006

As of Jan 1st 2006, the official Iraqi dinar-US dollar exchange rate is ID1 to US$$0.00067.