What is the official currency of East Timor?

The official currency of East Timor, also called Timor-Leste, is the United States dollar.

Timor-Leste adopted the U.S. dollar in 2000 during the United Nations transitional administration, after the Indonesian rupiah had been used during the occupation. When the country became independent on 20 May 2002, the dollar remained its principal currency. U.S. dollar banknotes and coins circulate throughout the country, and prices are commonly quoted in dollars.

Timor-Leste also issues its own centavo coins for small transactions. These coins are denominated in 1, 5, 10, 25, and 50 centavos, with 100- and 200-centavo coins added later. One Timor-Leste centavo equals one U.S. cent, so the local coins function as subdivisions of the dollar rather than as a separate national currency.

A common mistake is to answer Indonesian rupiah because East Timor shares the island of Timor with Indonesia and used the rupiah before independence. The Australian dollar is also nearby and important to regional trade, but it is not Timor-Leste’s official currency. The country does not issue its own circulating banknotes.