Jamaica - Official exchange rate (LCU per US$, period average)

The value for Official exchange rate (LCU per US$, period average) in Jamaica was 142.40 as of 2020. As the graph below shows, over the past 60 years this indicator reached a maximum value of 142.40 in 2020 and a minimum value of 0.71 in 1960.

Definition: Official exchange rate refers to the exchange rate determined by national authorities or to the rate determined in the legally sanctioned exchange market. It is calculated as an annual average based on monthly averages (local currency units relative to the U.S. dollar).

Source: International Monetary Fund, International Financial Statistics.

See also:

Year Value
1960 0.71
1961 0.71
1962 0.71
1963 0.71
1964 0.71
1965 0.71
1966 0.71
1967 0.72
1968 0.83
1969 0.83
1970 0.83
1971 0.83
1972 0.77
1973 0.91
1974 0.91
1975 0.91
1976 0.91
1977 0.91
1978 1.41
1979 1.76
1980 1.78
1981 1.78
1982 1.78
1983 1.93
1984 3.94
1985 5.56
1986 5.48
1987 5.49
1988 5.49
1989 5.74
1990 7.18
1991 12.12
1992 22.96
1993 24.95
1994 33.09
1995 35.14
1996 37.12
1997 35.40
1998 36.55
1999 39.04
2000 42.99
2001 46.00
2002 48.42
2003 57.74
2004 61.20
2005 62.28
2006 65.74
2007 69.19
2008 72.76
2009 87.89
2010 87.20
2011 85.89
2012 88.75
2013 100.40
2014 110.93
2015 116.97
2016 125.10
2017 127.96
2018 128.87
2019 133.31
2020 142.40

Development Relevance: In a market-based economy, household, producer, and government choices about resource allocation are influenced by relative prices, including the real exchange rate, real wages, real interest rates, and other prices in the economy. Relative prices also largely reflect these agents' choices. Thus relative prices convey vital information about the interaction of economic agents in an economy and with the rest of the world.

Limitations and Exceptions: Official or market exchange rates are often used to convert economic statistics in local currencies to a common currency in order to make comparisons across countries. Since market rates reflect at best the relative prices of tradable goods, the volume of goods and services that a U.S. dollar buys in the United States may not correspond to what a U.S. dollar converted to another country's currency at the official exchange rate would buy in that country, particularly when nontradable goods and services account for a significant share of a country's output. An alternative exchange rate - the purchasing power parity (PPP) conversion factor - is preferred because it reflects differences in price levels for both tradable and nontradable goods and services and therefore provides a more meaningful comparison of real output.

Statistical Concept and Methodology: The exchange rate is the price of one currency in terms of another. Official exchange rates and exchange rate arrangements are established by governments. Other exchange rates recognized by governments include market rates, which are determined largely by legal market forces, and for countries with multiple exchange arrangements, principal rates, secondary rates, and tertiary rates.

Periodicity: Annual

Classification

Topic: Financial Sector Indicators

Sub-Topic: Exchange rates & prices