If you’re planning on heading abroad this summer, be prepared for a little sticker shock.
The U.S. dollar just posted its worst decline through the first half of the year in over 50 years against other international currencies, according to the ICE U.S. Dollar Index. As a result, the exchange rate in places that use the euro, against which the dollar fell 13 percent over the time period, or the Japanese yen, against which the dollar dropped 6 percent, does not favor American spenders, The Wall Street Journal reported.
The decline marks quite the switch-up for American tourists, who saw a travel boom in 2024 powered by a strong dollar. In general, the U.S. currency has had large spending power abroad for the last 10 years, according to WSJ. Now, though, it will take more dollars to buy a euro, resulting in an increase in price for U.S. travelers abroad. There have been several factors fueling the dollar’s drop, including national debt concerns and President Trump’s trade policies. And experts say that more dips are looming.
Even amid the exchange rate woes, U.S. travelers are still on the move internationally. Out of those surveyed by Deloitte in May, a quarter of consumers said they were leaving the U.S. on a trip over the next three months—a figure that has stayed more or less consistent since the top of the year.
“A lot of times, they are, like, ‘It’s a bucket-list trip—we’re going anyway,’” travel adviser Trish Smith told The Wall Street Journal.
That doesn’t mean travelers aren’t adjusting how they splash down their cash. One accountant from Indianapolis had previous snatched up goods from his last trip to Spain with “no thinking” in 2022. For his next trip to the country, which he departed on yesterday, Albert Tartaglia told WSJ that he may limit his spending on his current trip.
The declining dollar does have a few positives outside the travel sphere. The falling figure means that exports are cheaper, which helps out industries stateside; investors looking to buy international stocks are in luck, too, since a weaker U.S. currency boosts capital gains. For now, though, if you’re heading abroad, get ready to spend some more cash.
