Egypt ‘best value destination’ in foreign currency analysis

Holidaymakers to Egypt will get almost 73% more for their money than a year ago – the equivalent of more than £210 extra on a £500 currency transaction.  

British travellers to Sharm el-Sheikh will pay around £48 for a three-course meal for two with a bottle of wine, compared with more than twice that amount in Antigua (£100) or Barbados (£105), according to Post Office Travel Money analysis.  

The Post Office exchange rate monitor reveals that the biggest year-on-year sterling falls have been against the Costa Rican colon (-22%), Mexican peso (-19%) and Jamaican dollar (-13%).  

The Turkish lira continued to fall against sterling last year and is now more than 180% weaker than when the pandemic hit in March 2020.  This means visitors will receive the equivalent of £321 more in lira on a £500 transaction than in 2020 – an attractive incentive for British tourists.

But just ten of the Post Office’s 30 leading currencies have seen year-on-year falls in their value against sterling.  

Analysis of exchange rates now compared with three and six months ago reveals an unwelcome dip in sterling’s value against many currencies.  It is now five per cent weaker than last August against the euro and has dropped 9.5% against the Hungarian forint, adding to the cost of a city break in Budapest.  

Analysis of sales for the past year shows that the currencies showing greatest growth compared with the pre-Covid period are those for Caribbean and Latin American countries – despite year-on-year falls of over 11% in sterling’s value. 

Led by the east Caribbean dollar, where sales rose 137%, these currencies take the top seven places in the Post Office’s 10 fastest growing currencies for the 12 months to January 2023. This is part of a pattern of growth noted over the past three years.

Ed Dutton, Post Office portfolio director, financial services, said: “The fairest measure of demand is to compare currency sales now with the busy period before the Covid-19 pandemic.  

“Sales of Caribbean and Latin American currencies were particularly strong then, so it is encouraging that they are even more buoyant now. 

“However, sterling has fallen in value against many of these currencies so holidaymakers should factor this into their holiday budgeting.  

“A destination like Sharm el-Sheikh may prove cheaper because of the Egyptian pound’s steep fall in value against sterling.”