The dirham exchange rate today
Updated 18 September 2026 from an open quotes source. Treat it as a reference: your bank applies its own rate at the moment of the transfer.
The dirham in other currencies
| Currency | Per 1 AED | Per 100 AED |
|---|---|---|
| USD US dollar a fixed peg, not a market quote | $0.2723 | $27.23 |
| GBP Pound sterling | £0.2037 | £20.37 |
| EUR Euro | €0.2371 | €23.71 |
| RUB Russian rouble | 23.00 ₽ | 2,300 ₽ |
| KZT Kazakh tenge | 121.33 ₸ | 12,133 ₸ |
What the usual budgets come to
Amounts that turn up in real transactions. Two of them are not round numbers but residency conditions: from AED 750,000 you qualify for a two-year investor visa, from AED 2,000,000 for the ten-year Golden Visa.
| In dirhams | In dollars | In pounds | What it is |
|---|---|---|---|
| AED 500,000 | $136,147 | £101,868 | a studio in a mid-density district |
| AED 750,000 | $204,221 | £152,802 | the two-year investor visa threshold |
| AED 1,000,000 | $272,294 | £203,736 | a one-bedroom in the mid market |
| AED 2,000,000 | $544,588 | £407,472 | the ten-year Golden Visa threshold |
| AED 3,672,500 | $1,000,000 | £748,220 | exactly one million dollars |
| AED 5,000,000 | $1,361,470 | £1,018,680 | a two-bedroom on the water |
| AED 10,000,000 | $2,722,941 | £2,037,360 | the upper segment — a villa or a penthouse |
That is the price of the property itself. On a resale add roughly 6–8% on top: the Land Department fee of 4%, agency commission of 2% plus VAT, and the fixed registration and developer NOC charges.
Why the dirham does not move against the dollar
The UAE central bank has held the rate at 3.6725 dirhams per dollar since 1997. It is not a quote formed on an exchange but a policy decision: a country whose export revenue arrives in dollars removed the currency risk from it by fixing its own money to the same unit.
The consequence people rarely think through before a purchase: the dollar price of a Dubai apartment does not depend on the currency market at all. It moves only when the property market moves. Priced in sterling or euros, the same apartment changes value every day — because sterling moves, not because Dubai did.
So "the flat is up 12% in euros" and "the flat is up" are two different statements, and the first one is usually not about property.
Which currency to think in
The transaction currency is the dirham. The contract, the payment plan, the Land Department fee, the agency commission, the service charge and the utility bills are all in AED. Other currencies are for scale, not for the model.
For a dollar earner the arithmetic is unusually simple: the peg means your return is the property's return, with no currency layer on top. For a sterling or euro earner there is a layer, and it belongs in the model rather than in the hope that it averages out.
One more thing about timing. On an off-plan payment plan the instalments are spread over years and each lands at its own rate. If your income is not in dollars, that risk sits with you in full, and it is worth pricing at the start rather than at the third payment.
Common questions
What is the AED to USD rate today?
One US dollar buys 3.6725 dirhams, and it has done since 1997. This is not a quote that moves during the day: the UAE central bank holds the rate by policy, so the dollar column on this page is a constant rather than a market price.
Why is the dirham pegged to the dollar?
The country earns its export revenue in dollars, and pegging the currency to it removes the exchange risk from that revenue. The practical consequence for a buyer is larger than it first looks: the dollar price of a Dubai apartment does not depend on the currency market at all. It changes only when the property market changes.
I earn in pounds or euros. Where does my currency risk sit?
Against the dollar, not against Dubai. One dirham is about £0.2037 and €0.2371 today, and both move with sterling and the euro against the dollar. On a payment plan stretched over years, each instalment lands at its own rate — that is the risk to price in at the start, not at the third payment.
What currency is the purchase actually made in?
Dirhams. The contract, the developer instalments, the Land Department fee, the agency commission, the service charge and the utility bills are all in AED. Other currencies on this site are there to give you the order of magnitude.
Does the exchange rate affect what I pay in fees?
Not the fees themselves — they are percentages of an AED price: 4% to the Land Department, 2% plus VAT in agency commission on a resale, plus fixed registration charges. What the rate changes is what those percentages cost you in your own currency on the day you send the money.
How accurate is the rate on this page?
It comes from an open quotes source and refreshes once a day, which is enough for the order of magnitude and not enough for a specific payment: your bank will apply its own rate at the moment of the transfer, plus a conversion fee. The dollar peg is the exception — that number does not move.
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