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Currency depreciation is the loss of value of a country's currency with respect to one or more foreign reference currencies, typically in a floating exchange rate system. It is most often used for the unofficial increase of the exchange rate due to market forces, though sometimes it appears interchangeably with devaluation. Its opposite is called appreciation.

The depreciation of a country's currency refers to a decrease in the value of that country's currency. For instance, if the Canadian dollar depreciates relative to the euro, the exchange rate (the Canadian dollar price of euros) rises - it takes more Canadian dollars to purchase 1 euro (1 EUR/CAD=1.5 → 1 EUR/CAD=1.7).

The appreciation of a country's currency refers to an increase in the value of that country's currency. Continuing with the CAD/EUR example, if the Canadian dollar appreciates relative to the euro, the exchange rate falls - it takes fewer Canadian dollars to purchase 1 euro (1 EUR/CAD=1.5 → 1 EUR/CAD=1.4).

[edit]See also

• Inflation