Guidelines for Currency Formatting (with ISO 4217 Table)

If you’re designing the UX for a web or mobile application that contains monetary data for different locales, you might have questions about the differences in currency formats. Mainly, when to use currency codes vs. currency symbols or where to use a space or comma etc.

In this article, we’ll provide guidelines for currency formatting based on the ISO 4217 standard so that your application can handle different currencies correctly.

Make sure you are consistent. You should not show the currency code for some currencies but not for others, just because they don’t have a unique symbol. You also can’t rely on all your users knowing the symbols. Normally, you will not use both the symbol and code e.g., €1.234.567,89 EUR.

ISO 4217 is the international standard for currency codes. We’ll share a table at the end of this article. It includes a three-letter alphabetic code for each currency. For example, USD is the code for US dollars, EUR is the code for Euros, and GBP is the code for British Pounds.

When to Use Currency Codes vs. Currency Symbols

Generally, you should use currency codes when displaying prices in multiple currencies side-by-side. This makes it easier for users to identify the currency for each price.

For example, if you’re displaying prices for a hotel room in both USD and EUR, you would use the currency codes to show that:

Room price: USD 100 / EUR 90

However, if you’re only displaying prices in a single currency, you can use the currency symbol. I have also seen a lot of graphics that use a symbol rather than the code. For example, if all prices on your site are in USD, you would use the dollar sign:

Room price: $100

Where to Use a Space or Comma

According to ISO 4217, the decimal separator for most currencies is a comma, and the thousands separator is a space. So, if you’re displaying a price in Euros, you would use a comma as the decimal separator and a space as the thousands separator:

Room price: EUR 90,00

However, there are some exceptions to this rule. The decimal separator for Japanese Yen is a full stop, and the decimal separator for Swiss Francs is an apostrophe. So, if you’re displaying a price in Japanese Yen, you would use a full stop as the decimal separator and a space as the thousands separator:

Room price: JPY 90.00

And if you’re displaying a price in Swiss Francs, you would use an apostrophe as the decimal separator and a space as the thousands separator:

Room price: CHF 90’00

Conclusion

Following these guidelines for currency formatting will help ensure that your application can correctly handle different currencies from around the world. If you have any questions about implementing these guidelines, please feel free to leave a comment below.

World Currency Formats and ISO 4217 Information