The currency of Somalia is the Somalia Shilling and the symbol of this currency is SoSh and the ISO code is SOS. This currency is subdivided into 100 Centesimi, or senti. In the local language of Somalis, the Somali shilling is also called shillin soomaali and is also printed on the banknotes.
History of the Somali currency
The Somali shilling was issued by the central bank after independence in 1960.
However, the value of the currency collapsed as early as 1991, after the Somali civil war and the subsequent collapse of the state. Since Somali warlords had several quantities of 500 and 1000 notes printed under their own leadership, this slump was only a matter of time.
In 2002, for example, you could get around 25,000 Somalia shillings for just one US dollar. The exchange rate recovered to 13,400 by 2006, but fell to a full 30,000 Somalia shillings by 2008.
The proportion of counterfeit money in Somalia is estimated at around 80%. However, the interim government in Somalia announced in 2008 that it would commission the printing of new and hard-to-counterfeit banknotes.
500 and 1000 Schilling bills are mainly used, as the 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 Schilling bills that have been printed since the 1980’s are practically no longer of any value.
Exchange into the currency of Somalia
Since this catastrophic currency situation continues in Somalia, foreign currencies are also in circulation, such as the US dollar, the euro and the dirham, the currency of the United Arab Emirates.
This means that when entering Somalia, you can also pay with American and European money. If you are in the border regions in Somalia, the traveler encounters not only the US dollar, euro, dirham and Somali shilling but also the Ethiopian birr, the Kenya shilling and the Djibouti franc.
The Republic of Somaliland, which has been independent since 1991, also has its own currency, the Somaliland shilling, which is only correctly accepted in the region between Hargeysa and Berbera.
The exchange rate of the euro and the Somalia shilling can be calculated using the currency converter.
To exchange the amount of money, it is rather not recommended to do this in one of the local exchange offices, as there is a risk of getting the mentioned counterfeit money.
The cash can be exchanged in a larger hotel without any problems, but this is not particularly necessary, as the US dollar and the euro, which are much safer, circulate in Somalia.