Currency & Exchange
Exchange rate
An exchange rate is the price of one currency expressed in terms of another — how many US dollars it takes to buy one euro, for instance. Rates float freely for most major currencies, moving on interest-rate differentials, trade flows, and capital flows, while some countries peg or manage theirs against a reference currency.
Why it matters
Every country page's currency figures are quoted against this series, so it's the reference point for comparing values across countries.
Also known as: FX rate, currency exchange rate