That means the record roster could have been even greater. All told, maybe a hundred names were on the edge as the foreign-exchange markets continued to roil in the weeks leading to our valuation cutoff.
Ongoing political turmoil and tepid economic growth crushed European exchange rates. With a 67% drop over the last year amid Russian-backed insurgency, the Ukrainian hryvnia was the world’s worst performer from last year’s list to this one. Russia’s ruble, down 44%, wasn’t far behind in its worst drop since the 1998 default. Meanwhile, the continent’s single-bloc euro sank 16% as the European Central Bank tried ever-looser monetary policy to spur growth.
A few major currencies in Asia, Africa and Latin America also fell significantly against the dollar. Japan’s yen slid 14% as “Abenomics” monetarism and renewed recession took a toll. The Australian dollar dipped as commodity markets weakened. The Nigerian naira dropped 19% as the oil markets and the nation’s own political and security woes worsened.
The only currency to rise appreciably against the dollar was the Philippine peso, up just 1.3%. It gained strength amid an economic boom and an upgrade of the government’s credit ratings. Most other Asian economies had mild depreciation vis-a-vis the U.S. year over year.
FORBES’ valuation cutoff was Feb. 13, and some monetary weakening — for instance, the Brazilian real — have continued since. Moreover, because our calculations only include changes in the official exchange rates, countries with significant black-market currency trading (like sorry Venezuela, supposedly flat) could have suffered an even worse impact.
