Which Arab currencies held their value — and which quietly collapsed? A data-led view of purchasing power across 14 currencies, benchmarked against gold and the dollar.
The short answer: the dollar-pegged Gulf currencies — the Kuwaiti, Bahraini and Omani especially, alongside the Saudi riyal, UAE dirham and Qatari riyal — preserved purchasing power best. Currencies that went through large devaluations lost the most, often in a few concentrated years.
| Tier | Currencies | Purchasing power kept |
|---|---|---|
| Most stable | Kuwaiti, Bahraini, Omani, Saudi, UAE, Qatari | High — pegs + strong reserves |
| Gradual erosion | Moroccan, Tunisian, Algerian, Jordanian | Moderate — slow drift |
| Sharp loss | Currencies after large devaluations | Low — concentrated collapses |
A currency pegged to the US dollar and backed by deep reserves imports the dollar's relative stability. Currencies that floated or were repeatedly devalued passed inflation straight through to citizens' savings.
Use the Inflation & Purchasing Power Calculator to see exactly how much real value your savings have lost — and compare it to gold over the same period.