US Dollar to Japanese Yen exchange rate history 1971 to 2026: carry, intervention and the rate gap
One US Dollar bought 347.786 JPY in 1971 and 158.469 JPY in 2026. Carry, intervention and the rate gap. The series covers 56 years of annual data.
- 2026 avg
- 158.47
- year to date
- Highest avg
- 347.79
- 1971
- Lowest avg
- 79.70
- 2011
- Traded range
- 75.72 to 358.44
- low 2011, high 1971
Source: Federal Reserve H.10 (DEXJPUS). Latest daily observation 2026-10-30.
Annual averages of daily observations.
USD/JPY history: the years that moved the rate
Each event below is dated and tied to one of the currencies in this pair.
- 1985 1985-09-22
Plaza Accord agrees a weaker dollar
Finance ministers of France, West Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States agreed to coordinate intervention to depreciate the US dollar, especially against the yen and the Deutsche mark.
- 1990 1990-01-04
Japanese asset bubble begins to deflate
Japanese equity and property prices began a sustained decline in 1990. The Nikkei 225 fell more than 35 percent during the year, starting a long period of weak growth and low interest rates.
- 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.
USD/JPY since 1971
US Dollar to Japanese Yen averaged 347.786 JPY in 1971 and 149.569 JPY in 2025, 57.0% lower across 55 complete years.
The annual average has ranged from 79.697 in 2011 to 347.786 in 1971. On individual trading days the series reached 75.720 and 358.440, a ratio of 4.7 to 1.
Why the US-Japan rate gap drives USD/JPY
USD/JPY is a carry pair. The Federal Reserve sets the USD 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.
The pair is the clearest gauge of the interest-rate gap between the Federal Reserve and the Bank of Japan. The annual series reflects those shifts rather than a single trend. From 1971 to 2025 the average moved -57.0%, with 24 up years and 30 down years.
Because Japanese rates stayed near zero for long periods, the yen has often been the funding currency in global carry trades. 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.
What moves USD/JPY
USD: The US dollar is the world's main reserve currency and the base leg for most foreign exchange trading.
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 USD/JPY, the USD leg responds to Federal Reserve policy, US inflation and Treasury yields, safe-haven demand, 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.
The five largest USD/JPY moves
Ranked by absolute year-end change, the five largest moves were 1979 (+23.7%), 1987 (-23.4%), 2013 (+21.5%), 1986 (-20.9%), 1985 (-20.4%). The biggest was 1979, when the rate moved from 194.300 to 240.300, a change of 23.7%.
Across 55 complete years the pair rose in 24 and fell in 30. The average annual change was -0.6% with a standard deviation of 11.6 percentage points, which is one way to compare its volatility with other pairs.
USD/JPY by decade
Grouped by decade, the annual average was 278.369 in 1971-1979 and 135.439 in 2020-2026. The widest decade-to-decade change was -40.3% between 1980-1989 and 1990-1999, when the average moved from 198.900 to 118.815.
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 USD/JPY data
The annual figures are averages of the daily observations in Federal Reserve H.10 (DEXJPUS). Highs and lows are the most extreme single observations in each calendar year, not intraday highs. No figure on this page is estimated or interpolated.
USD/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 (DEXJPUS). Figures are annual averages of daily observations.
USD 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 | 347.79 | 358.44 | 314.96 | 315.01 | n/a |
| 1972 | 303.12 | 314.96 | 294.12 | 301.66 | -4.2% |
| 1973 | 271.31 | 302.57 | 254.45 | 280.27 | -7.1% |
| 1974 | 291.84 | 305.34 | 274.42 | 301.02 | +7.4% |
| 1975 | 296.78 | 306.84 | 284.66 | 305.16 | +1.4% |
| 1976 | 296.45 | 306.00 | 286.04 | 293.08 | -4.0% |
| 1977 | 268.62 | 292.91 | 237.81 | 239.98 | -18.1% |
| 1978 | 210.39 | 242.42 | 177.05 | 194.30 | -19.0% |
| 1979 | 219.02 | 250.85 | 194.58 | 240.30 | +23.7% |
| 1980 | 226.63 | 261.40 | 203.10 | 203.10 | -15.5% |
| 1981 | 220.63 | 246.10 | 199.05 | 219.80 | +8.2% |
| 1982 | 249.06 | 277.65 | 218.75 | 234.70 | +6.8% |
| 1983 | 237.55 | 247.05 | 226.75 | 231.70 | -1.3% |
| 1984 | 237.46 | 251.60 | 222.70 | 251.60 | +8.6% |
| 1985 | 238.47 | 262.80 | 200.25 | 200.25 | -20.4% |
| 1986 | 168.35 | 202.70 | 152.00 | 158.30 | -20.9% |
| 1987 | 144.60 | 159.40 | 121.25 | 121.25 | -23.4% |
| 1988 | 128.17 | 136.52 | 121.10 | 125.05 | +3.1% |
| 1989 | 138.07 | 149.62 | 123.60 | 143.80 | +15.0% |
| 1990 | 145.00 | 159.90 | 125.05 | 135.75 | -5.6% |
| 1991 | 134.59 | 141.90 | 124.90 | 124.90 | -8.0% |
| 1992 | 126.78 | 134.53 | 119.35 | 124.85 | -0.0% |
| 1993 | 111.08 | 126.10 | 101.10 | 111.70 | -10.5% |
| 1994 | 102.18 | 113.10 | 96.77 | 99.60 | -10.8% |
| 1995 | 93.96 | 104.20 | 81.12 | 103.28 | +3.7% |
| 1996 | 108.78 | 116.13 | 103.92 | 115.77 | +12.1% |
| 1997 | 121.06 | 131.08 | 111.42 | 130.45 | +12.7% |
| 1998 | 130.99 | 147.14 | 113.08 | 113.08 | -13.3% |
| 1999 | 113.73 | 124.45 | 101.53 | 102.16 | -9.7% |
| 2000 | 107.80 | 114.62 | 101.70 | 114.35 | +11.9% |
| 2001 | 121.57 | 131.47 | 114.26 | 131.04 | +14.6% |
| 2002 | 125.22 | 134.77 | 115.71 | 118.75 | -9.4% |
| 2003 | 115.94 | 121.42 | 106.93 | 107.13 | -9.8% |
| 2004 | 108.15 | 114.30 | 102.56 | 102.68 | -4.2% |
| 2005 | 110.11 | 120.93 | 102.26 | 117.88 | +14.8% |
| 2006 | 116.31 | 119.81 | 110.07 | 119.02 | +1.0% |
| 2007 | 117.76 | 124.09 | 108.17 | 111.71 | -6.1% |
| 2008 | 103.39 | 110.48 | 87.84 | 90.79 | -18.7% |
| 2009 | 93.68 | 100.71 | 86.12 | 93.08 | +2.5% |
| 2010 | 87.78 | 94.68 | 80.48 | 81.67 | -12.3% |
| 2011 | 79.70 | 85.26 | 75.72 | 76.98 | -5.7% |
| 2012 | 79.82 | 86.64 | 76.11 | 86.64 | +12.6% |
| 2013 | 97.60 | 105.25 | 86.92 | 105.25 | +21.5% |
| 2014 | 105.74 | 121.38 | 101.11 | 119.85 | +13.9% |
| 2015 | 121.05 | 125.58 | 116.78 | 120.27 | +0.3% |
| 2016 | 108.66 | 121.06 | 100.07 | 116.78 | -2.9% |
| 2017 | 112.10 | 117.68 | 107.72 | 112.69 | -3.5% |
| 2018 | 110.40 | 114.19 | 104.83 | 109.70 | -2.6% |
| 2019 | 109.02 | 112.00 | 105.30 | 108.67 | -0.9% |
| 2020 | 106.78 | 111.86 | 102.52 | 103.19 | -5.0% |
| 2021 | 109.84 | 115.34 | 102.70 | 115.17 | +11.6% |
| 2022 | 131.46 | 149.82 | 113.72 | 131.81 | +14.4% |
| 2023 | 140.50 | 151.56 | 127.85 | 140.92 | +6.9% |
| 2024 | 151.46 | 161.73 | 140.66 | 157.37 | +11.7% |
| 2025 | 149.57 | 158.31 | 140.81 | 156.80 | -0.4% |
| 2026 YTD | 158.47 | 163.86 | 152.64 | 157.47 | +0.4% |
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.
Five largest USD/JPY moves
The largest absolute year-end changes in the published series, using complete calendar years only.
- 1979 +23.7% 194.30 to 240.30
Year-end rate moved from 194.30 to 240.30, a change of 23.7%.
- 1987 -23.4% 158.30 to 121.25
Year-end rate moved from 158.30 to 121.25, a change of 23.4%.
- 2013 +21.5% 86.64 to 105.25
Year-end rate moved from 86.64 to 105.25, a change of 21.5%.
- 1986 -20.9% 200.25 to 158.30
Year-end rate moved from 200.25 to 158.30, a change of 20.9%.
- 1985 -20.4% 251.60 to 200.25
Year-end rate moved from 251.60 to 200.25, a change of 20.4%.
USD/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 | 278.37 | 358.44 | 177.05 | n/a |
| 1980–1989 | 198.90 | 277.65 | 121.10 | -28.5% |
| 1990–1999 | 118.82 | 159.90 | 81.12 | -40.3% |
| 2000–2009 | 111.99 | 134.77 | 86.12 | -5.7% |
| 2010–2019 | 101.19 | 125.58 | 75.72 | -9.7% |
| 2020–2026 | 135.44 | 163.86 | 102.52 | +33.9% |
Average of the annual averages in each period. The first and last rows cover partial decades.
USD/JPY history: common questions
What was the USD/JPY rate in 1971?
One USD averaged 347.786 JPY in 1971, with a range of 314.960 to 358.440 and a year-end rate of 315.010.
What is the highest USD/JPY rate on record?
The highest annual average was 347.786 in 1971. The highest single observation was 358.440 in 1971.
What is the lowest USD/JPY rate on record?
The lowest annual average was 79.697 in 2011. The lowest single observation was 75.720 in 2011.
What was the biggest single-year move in USD/JPY?
1979 was the largest, at +23.7%. The year-end rate moved from 194.300 to 240.300.
How volatile has USD/JPY been?
Across 55 complete years the average annual change was -0.6% with a standard deviation of 11.6 percentage points. The largest drawdown was 75.6%, from 1971 to 2011.
What is the USD/JPY rate in 2026?
The 2026 average is 158.469 JPY per USD, based on the year to date. The latest complete year, 2025, averaged 149.569.
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