What is the currency of Vietnam?

The currency of Vietnam is the Vietnamese đồng.

The đồng, written đồng in Vietnamese and commonly symbolized as ₫ or đ, is issued by the State Bank of Vietnam. Its international currency code is VND. The word đồng comes from a Sino-Vietnamese term meaning “copper,” reflecting the metal historically associated with coins.

Vietnam has used đồng-denominated currencies through several political eras. North Vietnam introduced its own đồng in 1946, while South Vietnam used a separate đồng after 1953. Following reunification, the currency was unified on 3 May 1978. The French Indochinese piastre was the major predecessor currency before these national issues.

One đồng was formerly divided into 10 hào or 100 xu, but inflation made both subunits obsolete. Vietnam now relies overwhelmingly on banknotes, including polymer notes introduced for denominations of 10,000 đồng and above. The 500,000-đồng note is the highest-denomination banknote commonly associated with the modern currency. Travelers sometimes confuse the đồng with currencies in other Southeast Asian countries, such as the Thai baht or Indonesian rupiah, but those are separate national currencies.