The pound is continuing to fall against many major currencies, meaning our holiday money is buying less than before. The pound has fallen by 8% against the euro since early January and by 6.7% against the dollar.
Of the 40 currencies the Post Office tracks for its regular Holiday Money Report sterling has weakened year-on-year against 27 of them.
The biggest fallers
Here are the currencies the pound has fallen most sharply against since this time last year.
|
Currency |
Percentage decrease in strength of pound against currency since February 2012 |
|
Bulgarian lev |
-9.1% |
|
Swedish kronor |
-8.5% |
|
Thai baht |
-6.9% |
|
Euro |
-6.3% |
|
Norwegian krone |
-6.2% |
|
Singapore dollar |
-5.3% |
Of course, if you came home with a fair amount of any of the above currencies and you don’t plan to go away again in the foreseeable future, now is a good time to cash it in.
Where your money will go further
However, there are some places where sterling is on the rise.
The latest Post Office figures show the pound has risen 14% against the Japanese yen compared to a year ago. And you’ll get 11% more South African rand than you would last year and 10.5% more Argentinian pesos.
Here are the holiday destinations where the pound has got stronger against the local currency over the past 12 months.
|
Currency |
Percentage increase in strength of pound against currency since February 2012 |
|
Japanese yen |
14% |
|
South African rand |
11.6% |
|
Argentinian peso |
10.5% |
|
Gambian dalasi |
10% |
|
Brazilian real |
9.4% |
|
Egyptian pound |
6.9% |
|
Sri Lankan rupee |
5.3% |
|
Indonesian rupiah |
2.7% |
|
Jamaican dollar |
1.8% |
|
Australian dollar |
0.7% |
|
Kenyan shilling |
0.4% |
|
Dominican peso oro |
0.4% |
|
Icelandic krona |
0.2% |
So if you fancy some last-minute winter sun, you’ll get more travel money heading to the likes of South Africa, the Gambia and Egypt.