Money is confusing. Whether your dealing with the concept of tomans in Iran (who genuinely understands this?) or your figuring our why you received two different currencies back as change in Cambodia, everywhere is different. We are here to make your money experience easy.
Here are the important things to note:
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There is an official and unofficial rate. They don’t actually differ that much though. If you look on XE.com the rate is roughly 1300 to 1 USD. The street rate is about 1460 to 1 USD as of 23 May 2023. Most places on the street will change money at around 1400 IQD to 1 USD.
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When speaking about price Iraqis will leave out the 000’s which can be confusing. Sometimes prices will even be written without the 000’s on the end. If someone says it costs 50 they will mean 50,000.
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They like crisp new notes just like most other places in the region. Leave those dirty torn USD at home, they won’t be useful here.
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Some places will accept USD and give you change in IQD (such as big hotels). The government is trying to crack down on this recently though so this may change in future.
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Before you leave Iraq change the rest of your money before you go to the airport. The airport has an exchange but can only be used if you are an Iraqi citizen. Yes, that’s right an international airport where foreigners can’t exchange money. It’s stupid and we hate it. If you are desperate you can talk to a cleaner and they might help you, but expect the rate to be terrible.
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The largest denomination is 50,000 which is actually small and a similar size and colour to the 5,000 note. Make sure you pay attention to this.
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The best note to have is 5,000 especially when catching taxis as they will almost certainly never have change.
Once you’ve read through these 7 points you’ll be set to navigate yourself through Iraqi dinars!