Currency exchange rates in Sharm El Sheikh: official vs black market, best way to exchange money
Based on 2 discussions with 3 participants · Last activity: 12 days ago
TL;DR
Since March 2024 Egypt switched to a floating exchange rate and the black market disappeared — banks and exchange offices now offer nearly identical rates (around 51.5 EGP per $1 as of early August), so check the Google rate and expect a slightly worse one when exchanging.
What the community said
There's been no currency black market in Egypt since 2024. Rates at all banks and ATMs are nearly identical, with only minor daily fluctuations. As of early August, the rate was around 51.56 EGP per $1. Tip: check the current rate on Google and expect a slightly worse rate when actually exchanging.
19 days ago ~51.56 EGP per $1
In March 2024 Egypt introduced a floating exchange rate and the black market for currency exchange disappeared. Within a couple of days, the official rate jumped from around 30 to 49 EGP per dollar and has stayed around that level since.
14 days ago Rate jump: 30 → 49 EGP/$
Back in 2023, when the black market still existed, its rate was higher than the official one (e.g. 1:50 vs the official 1:42), but street traders often offered a lowballed rate like 1:35 — so exchanging with random vendors was risky.
33 days ago 2023 black market: rate lowballed to 1:35