The first US dollar was minted in 1794 and has gone on to become one of the world’s most powerful currencies – and it’s not just Americans who rely on it.
As part of his "economic shock therapy" plan, new Argentinian president Javier Milei has hit headlines for announcing he wants the Latin American nation to adopt the US dollar. One of Milei's insiders has told Reuters the policy could take a year to push through. But plenty of other countries, besides the US, are already using the dollar in the meantime...
From overseas territories to some countries that might just surprise you, read on to discover the 15 places where the greenback is king today. All dollar amounts in US dollars.
The Caribbean island of Puerto Rico has been a US territory since 1898, when it was ceded to America after the Spanish-American war. It became a commonwealth in 1952.
The American dollar is the official currency for Puerto Rico’s 3.3 million residents, a shocking 41.7% of whom live in poverty, according to data from the US Census Bureau.
In 2015, Puerto Rico announced it was in debt to the tune of $74 billion, making it the biggest bankruptcy case in US history.
In January 2022, the US agreed to a debt restructuring plan to strengthen the Puerto Rican economy. However, some people have argued that the commonwealth would actually be in a better position if it waved goodbye to the US dollar and introduced a currency of its own.
Ecuador switched from the SUCRE to the US dollar in 2000. The Ecuadorian economy was plagued by rampant inflation in the 1990s, which peaked at 100% at the turn of the millennium.
With the Central Bank struggling to solve the issue, Ecuador decided to follow in the footsteps of its fellow Latin American country Panama and adopted the US dollar instead.
But it was far from plain sailing. According to a 2001 New York Times article, Ecuador’s decision to introduce the US dollar led to an explosion of counterfeit money being printed in Colombia.
"Asking people to change their currency is like asking them to change their language or religion," the then-deputy governor of Ecuador’s Central Bank told the newspaper. "We were doing something that no one else had done, we were doing it rapidly, and we had no one to guide us or tell us of their experience."
The African nation of Zimbabwe has used the US dollar since 2009. The Zimbabwean economy collapsed under the rule of President Robert Mugabe, with hyperinflation rates reaching an unbelievable 79.6 billion per cent by the end of 2008.
The value of one US dollar was equivalent to an unfathomable 2.6 decillion Zimbabwean dollars – and to restore economic stability, the country decided to adopt the US dollar as an official currency.
As well as the US dollar, Zimbabwe also accepts the euro, Chinese yuan, and the South African rand as legal tender.
The country isn’t totally out of the financial woods just yet. In 2016, the Zimbabwean government announced that it would start printing bond notes to combat a chronic shortage of cash that had left many residents unable to withdraw money from ATMs. The country is still battling high unemployment and soaring inflation today.
Another American territory, Guam, has used the US dollar since 1950.
According to the most recent data, the country’s GDP is around $6.2 billion (£4.9bn), substantially less than America’s $25.5 trillion (£20.3tn). Available figures show that its poverty rate runs at about 20%. With all figures considered, it’s the second most impoverished US state or territory after Puerto Rico.
Unlike some other US territories, the cost of living in Guam can be more expensive than in America – partly because most goods have to be imported.
For example, data from Numbeo shows that while rent prices are 6.4% lower in Guam than in the US, grocery prices are 21.9% higher.
The Virgin Islands of the United States are an archipelago in the Caribbean. The three largest islands are St. Croix, St. John and St. Thomas, and they're surrounded by 50 smaller islands.
The islands were sold to the US by Denmark in 1917 and have used the US dollar ever since.
The Virgin Islands’ main industry is tourism, which typically contributes around 60% of the country’s GDP; this was valued at $4 billion (£3bn) back in 2019.
Like Puerto Rico, however, the Virgin Islands have struggled with debt, particularly in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma in 2017.
The Islands’ ability to bounce back economically was also hindered by the COVID-19 pandemic, which saw the lucrative tourism industry grind to a halt.
The British Virgin Islands might not be American in name but, much like the neighbouring US Virgin Islands, they use the American dollar as their official currency.
This British overseas territory started using the Greenback in 1959 thanks to its close ties with the US Virgin Islands.
Both archipelagos rely heavily on tourism. According to the CIA’s World Factbook, the tourist industry typically generates 45% of the British Virgin Islands’ national income.
In fact, the territory has one of the most prosperous economies in the Caribbean, despite its small population of just 31,300 people.
Located in southeast Asia, Timor-Leste made the US dollar an official currency in 2000.
The greenback replaced the Indonesian rupiah, which the island had used since it was invaded by Indonesia in December 1975.
In 2003, Timor-Leste introduced a second official currency: the centavo coin.
These coins are designed to be a more hard-wearing alternative to low-denomination US banknotes, which can be difficult to replace when they wear out as they can only be minted in America.
The Caribbean island of Bonaire is a municipality of the Netherlands. Despite this, it opted to replace the Netherlands Antillean guilder with the US dollar in 2011.
While the Netherlands uses the euro, Bonaire chose to adopt the US dollar as its currency as it's what most other Caribbean countries use. Trading between islands is much easier if every nation uses the same currency, removing the need to calculate exchange rates.
The Netherlands Antillean guilder remains the official currency of Curaçao and Sint Maarten.
In 2020 it was announced that the guilder would be replaced by a new currency called the "Caribbean guilder". Plans to get it into circulation have been delayed, with the currency now expected to launch in 2024.
Given Bonaire’s commitment to trade, it remains to be seen whether the island would also adopt the new Caribbean guilder if some of its neighbours make the switch.
As an unincorporated US territory, it’s no surprise that American Samoa uses the US dollar.
Consisting of five islands and two atolls, American Samoa is located to the southeast of Samoa, an independent state that still counts the US as its largest trading partner.
According to the US Department of State, the Samoan economy is significantly boosted by remittance payments from Samoans living in the US and American Samoa.
The population of American Samoa is around 44,000, while its GDP was $709 million (£564m) in 2021, according to the most recent data from the World Bank.
The Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) is made up of 14 islands in the Pacific Ocean.
The region became a commonwealth in 1975 after electing to not seek independence from the US. Its GDP was $1.18 billion (£875m) in 2019 and, like other overseas US territories, its economy has relied heavily on tourism.
While it shares a currency with America, the cost of living on the Northern Mariana Islands is very different to that of living in certain parts of the US.
According to comparison calculator Expatistan, the cost of living in Saipan – the largest island in the CNMI – is 11% more expensive than in Corpus Christi, Texas.
The Federated States of Micronesia in Oceania comprises four states: Chuuk, Kosrae, Pohnpei, and Yap. Collectively, they're made up of 607 islands.
The states were administered by Spain and later Germany, before being taken over by Japan between World Wars I and II. In 1947, the United Nations handed control of them to the United States.
The Federated States of Micronesia remains a sovereign nation but has maintained close ties with the US ever since, adopting the dollar as its official currency.
According to the US Department of State, America provides more than $110 million (£87.5m) of economic assistance to the Federated States of Micronesia every year, as well as a wide range of federal programs and services.
The hefty financial aid is mainly used to fund areas such as education, infrastructure, and the environment.
Located in the western Pacific, Palau has used the US dollar since 1944 and joined the International Monetary Fund – a UN agency established to stabilise exchange rates – in 1997.
Like the Federated States of Micronesia, the island nation is heavily reliant on financial assistance from the US and has received over $296 million (£235m) over the years.
According to Britannica, Palau’s GDP per capita, which was $12,084 (£9.6k) in 2021, is among the highest in the Pacific region.
The country’s main sources of income are tourism and the export of tuna and clothing.
Like its neighbours Micronesia and Palau, the Marshall Islands was administered by America from 1947 to 1986.
Although it’s since gained independence, it still uses the US dollar as its official currency – and until recently, it was the only legal tender on the island group.
In 2018, the Marshall Islands was warned by the International Monetary Fund to "seriously reconsider" adopting cryptocurrency as a second form of legal tender.
In February of that year, the country passed the Sovereign Currency Act to allow it to adopt a new digital currency called Sovereign, a state-backed asset that would lower reliance on the US dollar. However, the digital currency has yet to be launched.
In Panama, the US dollar has been legal tender since 1904. The first Latin American country to adopt the currency, Panama has the highest GDP per capita in the region and a total GDP of $63.6 billion (£50.6bn).
Its official currency is the balboa, also introduced in 1904, and has a 1:1 exchange rate with the dollar. However, Panama’s Banco Nacional only mints balboa coins, not higher-value bills. This means there are limits to the goods and services that Panamanians can buy with the currency.
Unlike other countries on this list, Panama has a well-developed economy.
Around 10% of the country's GDP is derived from the banking sector, while the Panama Canal (pictured) – which generates around $2 billion (£1.6bn) a year, according to The Maritime Post – also contributes to the country's strong economic position.
Turks and Caicos might be a British Overseas Territory but, much like the British Virgin Islands, it uses the US dollar due to its proximity to the States, making it much easier to trade with America.
According to the Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC), the US is the main trading partner of Turks and Caicos, with the islands importing $219 million (£174m) worth of goods from the US in 2021, the most recent year for which data is available.
And the US dollar isn’t the only currency on the islands. The Turks and Caicos government also mints a coin called the crown (pictured), which has a 1:1 exchange rate with the dollar.
However, these aren’t in common circulation and are more typically sold as tourist souvenirs.
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