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- The US dollar is used as official currency in several countries besides the United States.
- Ecuador and Zimbabwe both switched to the US dollar after financial crises made their local currencies worthless.
- Other countries, such as Panama, Cambodia, and the Bahamas, use the US dollar alongside their own currencies.
The US dollar is one of the most stable currencies in the world, and that's good for more than just Americans.
Several countries besides the United States use the US dollar as their official currency, including nations in South America, Africa, and the Pacific.
That translates to more than 350 million people around the world using the dollar as their main currency, and more than $17 trillion of economic activity, according to Investopedia.
The non-US countries whose official currency is the dollar are Ecuador, El Salvador, Zimbabwe, Timor-Leste, Micronesia, Palau, and the Marshall Islands. The dollar is also used in all US territories, such as Puerto Rico and Guam, and a couple of British territories in the Caribbean: Turks and Caicos and the British Virgin Islands.
On top of those places, there are plenty of countries that regularly use the US dollar alongside their own local currency. Those countries include the Bahamas, Barbados, St. Kitts and Nevis, Belize, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Panama, Myanmar, Cambodia, and Liberia, as well as several Caribbean territories.
In Ecuador's case, the country adopted the US dollar in 2000 after a financial crisis forced citizens to abandon their own currency, the sucre.
In Zimbabwe, the US dollar has become the most widely used of eight official currencies since hyperinflation made the Zimbabwean dollar worthless in the late 2000s. Other currencies accepted there include the euro, the Chinese yuan, the South African rand and the Botswanan pula.
As for the three Pacific island nations on the list, Micronesia, Palau, and the Marshall Islands, all three were territories administered by the United States from 1947 to 1986. They each decided to continue using the dollar after achieving independence.
Here are all the places around the world you can use US dollars.
Countries and territories with USD as official currency
- United States
- Ecuador
- El Salvador
- Marshall Islands
- Micronesia
- Palau
- Timor-Leste
- Zimbabwe
- American Samoa, American Virgin Islands, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico (territories of the United States)
- British Virgin Islands, Turks and Caicos (territories of the United Kingdom)
Countries and territories where USD is widely used along with local currency
- Bahamas
- Belize
- Barbados
- Costa Rica
- Nicaragua
- Panama
- Myanmar
- Cambodia
- Liberia
- St. Kitts and Nevis
- Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao, Sint Maarten, Sint Eustatius and Saba (territories of the Netherlands)
- Bermuda, Cayman Islands (territories of the United Kingdom)
Mark Abadi Copy Editor Mark Abadi is the copy editor for Insider's award-winning News and Documentary video team. He previously was editor of Business Insider's freelance program. He has also reported on careers, politics, and breaking news for Insider. Before joining Insider, Mark completed a two-year Fulbright grant in Malaysia. He has also written for The Daily Tar Heel in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and The Skagway News in Skagway, Alaska. Read more Read lessWatch: Why China's Yuan, not the Euro, could become the dominant global currency
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