New Zealand Dollar to Japanese Yen exchange rate history 1971 to 2026: a high-beta carry cross
One New Zealand Dollar bought 395.276 JPY in 1971 and 92.396 JPY in 2026. A high-beta carry cross. The series covers 56 years of annual data.
- 2026 avg
- 92.40
- year to date
- Highest avg
- 408.27
- 1974
- Lowest avg
- 49.21
- 2000
- Traded range
- 42.25 to 437.47
- low 2000, high 1974
Source: Federal Reserve H.10 cross rate (DEXUSNZ ÷ DEXJPUS). Latest daily observation 2026-10-30.
Annual averages of daily observations.
NZD/JPY in four numbers
- Change since 1971
- -78.0%
- 55 complete years
- Change over 10 years
- +2.8%
- 2015 to 2025
- Average annual change
- -1.8%
- standard deviation 12.4 points
- Largest drawdown
- 87.3%
- 1973 to 2000
NZD/JPY against related pairs
Each comparison uses the 2025 year-end change in this dataset, not a daily or monthly window.
NZD/JPY annual average, 1971 to 2026
Annual average with the full trading range for each year. average high–low range
Source: Federal Reserve H.10 cross rate (DEXUSNZ ÷ DEXJPUS). Figures are annual averages of daily observations.
NZD/JPY since 1971
New Zealand Dollar to Japanese Yen averaged 395.276 JPY in 1971 and 87.032 JPY in 2025, 78.0% lower across 55 complete years.
The annual average has ranged from 49.209 in 2000 to 408.267 in 1974. On individual trading days the series reached 42.250 and 437.474, a ratio of 10.4 to 1.
NZD/JPY against related pairs
AUD/JPY moved +7.4% in 2025, while NZD/JPY moved +2.5% over the same calendar year.
NZD/USD moved +2.8% in 2025, while NZD/JPY moved +2.5% over the same calendar year.
USD/JPY moved -0.4% in 2025, while NZD/JPY moved +2.5% over the same calendar year.
What moves NZD/JPY
NZD: The New Zealand dollar has floated since 1985 and is a small, liquid currency driven by dairy exports and risk appetite.
JPY: The yen is a free-floating currency that has spent long periods with very low interest rates, making it a funding currency for carry trades.
For NZD/JPY, the NZD leg responds to dairy and commodity prices, Reserve Bank of New Zealand policy, global risk appetite, while the JPY leg responds to Bank of Japan policy, interest rate differentials and carry trades, official intervention. The exchange rate is the market's attempt to balance the two sets of forces.
Risk appetite in NZD/JPY
NZD/JPY is a carry pair. The Reserve Bank of New Zealand sets the NZD policy rate and the Bank of Japan sets the JPY rate. The gap between the two is the main medium-term driver: capital tends to move toward the currency with the higher risk-adjusted yield, and the pair tends to move with that gap.
NZD/JPY pairs a small, cyclical commodity currency with a low-yield funding currency. The annual series reflects those shifts rather than a single trend. From 1971 to 2025 the average moved -78.0%, with 22 up years and 32 down years.
That combination makes it one of the more sensitive crosses to global risk appetite. Because carry trades are leveraged, the pair can move sharply when the rate gap narrows or when volatility rises, which is why the largest annual moves are often larger than the change in policy rates alone.
The five largest NZD/JPY moves
Ranked by absolute year-end change, the five largest moves were 2008 (-38.5%), 2009 (+27.9%), 1998 (-21.3%), 1996 (+21.1%), 1984 (-21.1%). The biggest was 2008, when the rate moved from 85.771 to 52.794, a change of 38.5%.
Across 55 complete years the pair rose in 22 and fell in 32. The average annual change was -1.8% with a standard deviation of 12.4 percentage points, which is one way to compare its volatility with other pairs.
NZD/JPY by decade
Grouped by decade, the annual average was 320.851 in 1971-1979 and 83.934 in 2020-2026. The widest decade-to-decade change was -57.9% between 1971-1979 and 1980-1989, when the average moved from 320.851 to 135.230.
The final bucket, 2020-2026, is a partial decade and includes the year-to-date 2026 average. The table below shows every bucket with its high and low, so the short-run moves and the long-run level can be read together.
How to read the NZD/JPY data
This is a derived cross rate. Each day's NZD/JPY is calculated from the two US dollar legs in Federal Reserve H.10 cross rate (DEXUSNZ ÷ DEXJPUS), joined on the same calendar date with up to seven days of holiday carry-forward. No figure on this page is estimated or interpolated.
NZD/JPY history: the years that moved the rate
Each event below is dated and tied to one of the currencies in this pair.
- 1985 1985-03-04
New Zealand dollar floated
New Zealand floated the New Zealand dollar at an initial rate of about US$0.4444, ending the managed exchange rate system.
- 2008 2008-09-15
Lehman Brothers files for bankruptcy
The collapse of Lehman Brothers triggered a global financial crisis, a flight into the US dollar and extreme volatility across currency markets.
- 2020 2020-03-15
Pandemic triggers a global dash for cash
The COVID-19 shock caused a worldwide sell-off and a surge in demand for US dollars, followed by large central bank intervention and emergency rate cuts.
- 2024 2024-07-31
Bank of Japan raises rates and the yen carry trade unwinds
The Bank of Japan raised its policy rate to about 0.25 percent. The yen strengthened sharply and crowded carry trades unwound, contributing to a global market sell-off in early August 2024.
NZD to JPY exchange rate by year
Every year since 1971: annual average, the year high and low, the year-end rate, and the change on the previous year.
| Year | Average | High | Low | Year end | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1971 | 395.28 | 402.55 | 370.64 | 375.27 | n/a |
| 1972 | 361.77 | 376.26 | 350.00 | 360.48 | -3.9% |
| 1973 | 368.18 | 413.68 | 318.67 | 398.68 | +10.6% |
| 1974 | 408.27 | 437.47 | 383.59 | 394.49 | -1.1% |
| 1975 | 359.01 | 398.13 | 314.73 | 316.91 | -19.7% |
| 1976 | 293.92 | 318.55 | 267.16 | 276.96 | -12.6% |
| 1977 | 260.04 | 278.19 | 239.15 | 243.82 | -12.0% |
| 1978 | 217.65 | 247.22 | 193.82 | 206.74 | -15.2% |
| 1979 | 223.54 | 243.69 | 205.48 | 236.21 | +14.3% |
| 1980 | 220.52 | 244.10 | 195.18 | 195.34 | -17.3% |
| 1981 | 191.16 | 201.35 | 179.18 | 180.90 | -7.4% |
| 1982 | 186.67 | 196.43 | 170.76 | 171.92 | -5.0% |
| 1983 | 158.62 | 175.11 | 151.46 | 151.65 | -11.8% |
| 1984 | 136.83 | 155.59 | 118.95 | 119.64 | -21.1% |
| 1985 | 118.03 | 131.97 | 97.15 | 100.23 | -16.2% |
| 1986 | 88.41 | 105.80 | 71.97 | 83.98 | -16.2% |
| 1987 | 85.60 | 96.47 | 79.67 | 80.05 | -4.7% |
| 1988 | 84.00 | 92.33 | 75.71 | 78.66 | -1.7% |
| 1989 | 82.46 | 87.32 | 77.47 | 85.37 | +8.5% |
| 1990 | 86.34 | 92.48 | 74.91 | 79.62 | -6.7% |
| 1991 | 77.86 | 82.81 | 67.48 | 67.48 | -15.2% |
| 1992 | 68.21 | 73.73 | 63.57 | 64.11 | -5.0% |
| 1993 | 60.05 | 64.75 | 55.91 | 62.44 | -2.6% |
| 1994 | 60.59 | 64.55 | 57.48 | 63.76 | +2.1% |
| 1995 | 61.61 | 68.54 | 54.31 | 67.51 | +5.9% |
| 1996 | 74.83 | 82.05 | 67.91 | 81.79 | +21.1% |
| 1997 | 80.13 | 88.03 | 73.48 | 75.70 | -7.5% |
| 1998 | 70.13 | 76.39 | 59.59 | 59.59 | -21.3% |
| 1999 | 60.26 | 69.24 | 50.53 | 53.47 | -10.3% |
| 2000 | 49.21 | 55.59 | 42.25 | 50.58 | -5.4% |
| 2001 | 51.05 | 54.53 | 47.16 | 54.53 | +7.8% |
| 2002 | 58.04 | 62.75 | 53.86 | 62.21 | +14.1% |
| 2003 | 67.38 | 71.04 | 62.59 | 70.25 | +12.9% |
| 2004 | 71.78 | 75.94 | 67.87 | 73.96 | +5.3% |
| 2005 | 77.57 | 86.99 | 71.45 | 80.69 | +9.1% |
| 2006 | 75.53 | 83.94 | 68.43 | 83.86 | +3.9% |
| 2007 | 86.72 | 97.53 | 77.28 | 85.77 | +2.3% |
| 2008 | 74.25 | 87.56 | 48.38 | 52.79 | -38.5% |
| 2009 | 59.43 | 69.53 | 45.16 | 67.53 | +27.9% |
| 2010 | 63.27 | 69.18 | 58.83 | 62.78 | -7.0% |
| 2011 | 63.09 | 67.95 | 56.76 | 60.08 | -4.3% |
| 2012 | 64.70 | 71.63 | 58.93 | 71.63 | +19.2% |
| 2013 | 80.04 | 86.61 | 72.37 | 86.61 | +20.9% |
| 2014 | 87.74 | 93.90 | 81.97 | 93.44 | +7.9% |
| 2015 | 84.70 | 93.53 | 74.76 | 82.29 | -11.9% |
| 2016 | 75.69 | 83.17 | 71.37 | 81.26 | -1.3% |
| 2017 | 79.70 | 83.61 | 75.86 | 80.01 | -1.5% |
| 2018 | 76.45 | 81.26 | 72.54 | 73.62 | -8.0% |
| 2019 | 71.87 | 76.47 | 66.96 | 73.30 | -0.4% |
| 2020 | 69.34 | 74.46 | 62.66 | 74.23 | +1.3% |
| 2021 | 77.68 | 82.26 | 73.91 | 78.76 | +6.1% |
| 2022 | 83.28 | 87.66 | 75.52 | 83.59 | +6.1% |
| 2023 | 86.21 | 91.18 | 81.09 | 89.34 | +6.9% |
| 2024 | 91.60 | 98.83 | 85.36 | 88.06 | -1.4% |
| 2025 | 87.03 | 91.32 | 80.68 | 90.24 | +2.5% |
| 2026 YTD | 92.40 | 95.41 | 88.27 | 88.77 | -1.6% |
1971–2026 · 55 complete calendar years. Annual figures are averages of available daily observations. 2026 is year to date: the average is based on 209 published trading days through 2026-10-30.
NZD/JPY by decade
Annual averages grouped into decade buckets. The first and last buckets may cover fewer than ten years.
| Period | Average | High | Low | vs previous |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1971–1979 | 320.85 | 437.47 | 193.82 | n/a |
| 1980–1989 | 135.23 | 244.10 | 71.97 | -57.9% |
| 1990–1999 | 70.00 | 92.48 | 50.53 | -48.2% |
| 2000–2009 | 67.10 | 97.53 | 42.25 | -4.1% |
| 2010–2019 | 74.72 | 93.90 | 56.76 | +11.4% |
| 2020–2026 | 83.93 | 98.83 | 62.66 | +12.3% |
Average of the annual averages in each period. The first and last rows cover partial decades.
Five largest NZD/JPY moves
The largest absolute year-end changes in the published series, using complete calendar years only.
- 2008 -38.5% 85.77 to 52.79
Year-end rate moved from 85.77 to 52.79, a change of 38.5%.
- 2009 +27.9% 52.79 to 67.53
Year-end rate moved from 52.79 to 67.53, a change of 27.9%.
- 1998 -21.3% 75.70 to 59.59
Year-end rate moved from 75.70 to 59.59, a change of 21.3%.
- 1996 +21.1% 67.51 to 81.79
Year-end rate moved from 67.51 to 81.79, a change of 21.1%.
- 1984 -21.1% 151.65 to 119.64
Year-end rate moved from 151.65 to 119.64, a change of 21.1%.
NZD/JPY history: common questions
What was the NZD/JPY rate in 1971?
One NZD averaged 395.276 JPY in 1971, with a range of 370.645 to 402.550 and a year-end rate of 375.271.
What was the biggest single-year move in NZD/JPY?
2008 was the largest, at -38.5%. The year-end rate moved from 85.771 to 52.794.
What is the highest NZD/JPY rate on record?
The highest annual average was 408.267 in 1974. The highest single observation was 437.474 in 1974.
What is the lowest NZD/JPY rate on record?
The lowest annual average was 49.209 in 2000. The lowest single observation was 42.250 in 2000.
How is the NZD/JPY rate calculated?
This is a derived cross rate. Each day's NZD/JPY is calculated from the two US dollar legs in Federal Reserve H.10 cross rate (DEXUSNZ ÷ DEXJPUS), joined on the same date.
What is the NZD/JPY rate in 2026?
The 2026 average is 92.396 JPY per NZD, based on the year to date. The latest complete year, 2025, averaged 87.032.
Query any NZD/JPY rate since 1971
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