The euro (symbol: €; currency code: EUR) is the official currency of 21 of the member states of the European Union. This group of states is officially known as the euro area, more commonly named the eurozone. Each euro is subdivided into 100 cents.
The currency is also used officially by the institutions of the European Union, by four European microstates that are not EU members, by one British Overseas Territory, as well as unilaterally by two European states that are not EU members. Outside Europe, a number of special territories of EU members also use the euro as their currency.
The euro is used by 358 million people in the eurozone, in addition to those living in states and territories where the euro is also the sole official currency. Furthermore, over 200 million people worldwide use currencies pegged to the euro. It is the second-largest reserve currency as well as the second-most traded currency in the world after the United States dollar. with more than €1.3 trillion in circulation, the euro has one of the highest combined values of banknotes and coins in circulation in the world.
The name euro was officially adopted on 16 December 1995 in Madrid. The euro was introduced to world financial markets as an accounting currency on 1 January 1999, replacing the former European Currency Unit (ECU) at a ratio of 1:1. Physical euro coins and banknotes entered into circulation on 1 January 2002, making it the day-to-day operating currency of its original members, and by March 2002 it had completely replaced the former currencies.
Before December 2002, the euro traded below parity with the US dollar; since then, it has traded near or above parity. On 13 July 2022, the two currencies briefly hit parity for the first time in nearly two decades, due in part to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. In the ten years ending 30 September 2025, the rate has averaged at about $1.00:€0.89.
Characteristics Administration
The euro is managed and administered by the European Central Bank and the Eurosystem, composed of the central banks of the eurozone countries. As an independent central bank, the ECB has sole authority to set monetary policy. The Eurosystem participates in the printing, minting and distribution of euro banknotes and coins in all member states, and the operation of the eurozone payment systems.
Through their ratification of the 1992 Maastricht Treaty (or subsequent treaties of accession), most EU member states committed to adopt the euro upon meeting certain monetary and budgetary convergence criteria, although not all participating states have done so. Denmark has negotiated exemptions, while Sweden (which joined the EU in 1995, after the Maastricht Treaty was signed) turned down the euro in a 2003 non-binding referendum, and has circumvented its commitment to adopt the euro by staying out of ERM II. All nations that have joined the EU since 1993 have pledged to adopt the euro in due course. The Maastricht Treaty was amended by the 2001 Treaty of Nice, which closed the gaps and loopholes in the Maastricht and Rome Treaties.
Countries that use the euro
The euro is the official currency of 44 countries and territories:
Eurozone members
The 21 participating members are:
Special territories of members of the European Economic Area
EU Outermost Regions:
Martinique
Overseas Territories:
Saint Barthélemy Saint Pierre and Miquelon
Special Autonomous Territories:
Mount Athos
Other users Microstates with a monetary agreement:
British Overseas Territory:
Unilateral adopters:
EU members not using the euro
Committed to adopt the euro
The following five EU member states, representing almost 90 million people, committed themselves in their respective Treaty of Accession to adopt the euro. However they do not have a deadline to do so and can delay the process by deliberately not complying with the convergence criteria (such as by not meeting the convergence criteria to join ERM II).
Opt-outs
The Maastricht Treaty of 1992 included protocols on Denmark and also the United Kingdom, giving them opt-outs with the right to decide if and when they would adopt the euro.
: The government of Denmark negotiated an opt-out to retain usage of the Danish krone, but the currency is pegged to the euro via the ERM II, the European Union's exchange rate mechanism. This same rule applies to Greenland and the Faroe Islands, as they are part of the Kingdom of Denmark and use the krone as their official tender.
In addition, prior to its withdrawal from the European Union in 2020, the United Kingdom negotiated an opt-out to retain usage of the pound sterling.
Coins and banknotes Coins
The euro is divided into 100 cents (also referred to as euro cents, especially when distinguishing them from other currencies, and referred to as such on the common side of all cent coins). In Community legislative acts the plural forms of euro and cent are spelled without the s, notwithstanding normal English usage. Otherwise, normal English plurals are used,; with many local variations such as centime in France.
All circulating coins have a common side showing the denomination or value and a map in the background. Due to the linguistic plurality in the European Union, the Latin alphabet version of euro is used (as opposed to the less common Greek or Cyrillic) and Arabic numerals (other text is used on national sides in national languages, but other text on the common side is avoided). For the denominations except the 1-, 2- and 5-cent coins, the map only showed the 15 member states of the union as of 2002. Beginning in 2007 or 2008 (depending on the country), the old map was replaced by a map of Europe also showing countries outside the EU. The 1-, 2- and 5-cent coins, however, keep their old design, showing a geographical map of Europe with the EU member states as of 2002, raised somewhat above the rest of the map. All common sides were designed by Luc Luycx. The coins also have a national side showing an image specifically chosen by the country that issued the coin. Euro coins from any member state may be freely used in any nation that has adopted the euro.
The coins are issued in denominations of €2, €1, 50c, 20c, 10c, 5c, 2c, and 1c. To avoid the use of the two smallest coins, some cash transactions are rounded to the nearest five cents in the Netherlands and Ireland (by voluntary agreement) and in Finland and Italy (by law). This practice is discouraged by the commission, as is the practice of certain shops of refusing to accept high-value euro notes.Pop, Valentina (22 March 2010) "Commission frowns on shop signs that say: '€500 notes not accepted, EU Observer
Commemorative coins with €2 face value have been issued with changes to the design of the national side of the coin. These include both commonly issued coins, such as the €2 commemorative coin for the fiftieth anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Rome, and nationally issued coins, such as the coin to commemorate the 2004 Summer Olympics issued by Greece. These coins are legal tender throughout the eurozone. Collector coins with various other denominations have been issued as well, but these are not intended for general circulation, and they are legal tender only in the member state that issued them.
Vatican euro coins with images of Pope Francis and Pope Benedict XVI
Coin minting A number of institutions are authorised to mint euro coins:
Bayerisches Hauptmünzamt (Mint mark: D) Currency Centre Real Casa de la Moneda Hamburgische Münze (J) Hrvatska kovnica novca
Imprensa Nacional-Casa da Moeda Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato Koninklijke Munt van België/Monnaie Royale de Belgique Moneten dvor (Монетен двор) Koninklijke Nederlandse Munt Lietuvos monetų kalykla Mincovňa Kremnica Monnaie de Paris Münze Österreich Suomen Rahapaja/Myntverket i Finland Staatliche Münze Berlin (A) Staatliche Münzen Baden-Württemberg (F): Stuttgart, (G): Karlsruhe
Banknotes
The design for the euro banknotes has common designs on both sides. The design was created by the Austrian designer Robert Kalina. Notes are issued in €500, €200, €100, €50, €20, €10, and €5. Each banknote has its own colour and is dedicated to an artistic period of European architecture. The front of the note features windows or gateways while the back has bridges, symbolising links between states in the union and with the future. While the designs are supposed to be devoid of any identifiable characteristics, the initial designs by Kalina were of specific bridges, including the Rialto and the Pont de Neuilly, and were subsequently rendered more generic; the final designs still bear very close similarities to their specific prototypes; thus they are not truly generic. The monuments looked similar enough to different national monuments to please everyone.
The Europa series, or second series, consists of six denominations and no longer includes the €500 with issuance discontinued as of 27 April 2019. However, both the first and the second series of euro banknotes, including the €500, remain legal tender throughout the euro area.
In December 2021, the ECB announced its plans to redesign euro banknotes by 2024. A theme advisory group, made up of one member from each euro area country, was selected to submit theme proposals to the ECB. The proposals will be voted on by the public; a design competition will also be held.
Issuing modalities for banknotes Since 1 January 2002, the national central banks (NCBs) and the ECB have issued euro banknotes on a joint basis. Eurosystem NCBs are required to accept euro banknotes put into circulation by other Eurosystem members and these banknotes are not repatriated. The ECB issues 8% of the total value of banknotes issued by the Eurosystem. In practice, the ECB's banknotes are put into circulation by the NCBs, thereby incurring matching liabilities vis-à-vis the ECB. These liabilities carry interest at the main refinancing rate of the ECB. The other 92% of euro banknotes are issued by the NCBs in proportion to their respective shares of the ECB capital key, calculated using national share of European Union (EU) population and national share of EU GDP, equally weighted.
Image Value Year Dimensions(millimetres) Main colour Design Printer code position Obverse Reverse Architecture Century €5 2013 120 × 62 mm Grey Classical 8th BC–4th AD Top right €10 2014 127 × 67 mm Red Romanesque 11–12th €20 2015 133 × 72 mm Blue Gothic 13–14th €50 2017 140 × 77 mm Orange Renaissance 15–16th €100 2019 147 × 77 mm Green Baroque & Rococo 17–18th €200 153 × 77 mm Yellow-brown Art Nouveau 19th
Banknote printing Member states authorised to print or to commission bank note printing:
Banca d'Italia Banco de Portugal Bank of Greece Bank of France Bulgarian National Bank Bundesdruckerei Central Bank of Ireland De La Rue Real Casa de la Moneda Oberthur Fiduciaire Giesecke+Devrient Royal Joh. Enschedé National Bank of Belgium Oesterreichische Nationalbank Setec Oy
Payments clearing, electronic funds transfer
Capital within the EU may be transferred in any amount from one state to another. All intra-Union transfers in euro are treated as domestic transactions and bear the corresponding domestic transfer costs. This includes all member states of the EU, even those outside the eurozone providing the transactions are carried out in euro. Credit/debit card charging and ATM withdrawals within the eurozone are also treated as domestic transactions; however paper-based payment orders, like cheques, have not been standardised so these are still domestic-based. The ECB has also set up a clearing system, T2 since March 2023, for large euro transactions.
History
Introduction