The Brazilian real (pl. reais; sign: R$; code: BRL) is the official currency of Brazil. It is subdivided into 100 centavos. The Central Bank of Brazil is the central bank and the issuing authority. The real replaced the cruzeiro real in 1994.

As of April 2019,^[update] the real was the twentieth most traded currency.^[1]

Currencies in use before the current real include:

• The Portuguese real from the 16th to 18th centuries, with 1,000 réis called the milréis.
• The old Brazilian real from 1747 to 1942, with 1,000 réis also called the milréis.
• The first cruzeiro from 1942 to 1967, at 1 cruzeiro = 1 milréis or 1,000 réis.
• The cruzeiro novo from 1967 to 1970, at 1 cruzeiro novo = 1,000 first cruzeiros. From 1970 it was simply called the (second) cruzeiro and was used until 1986.
• The cruzado from 1986 to 1989, at 1 cruzado = 1,000 second cruzeiros.
• The cruzado novo from 1989 to 1990, at 1 cruzado novo = 1,000 cruzados. From 1990, because of the Plano Collor it was renamed the (third) cruzeiro and was used until 1993.
• The cruzeiro real (CR$) from 1993 to 1994, at 1 cruzeiro real = 1,000 third cruzeiros.

The current real was introduced in 1994 at 1 real = 2,750 cruzeiros reais.

The modern real (Portuguese plural reais or English plural reals) was introduced on 1 July 1994, during the presidency of Itamar Franco, when Rubens Ricupero was the Minister of Finance as part of a broader plan to stabilize the Brazilian economy, known as the Plano Real. The new currency replaced the short-lived cruzeiro real (CR$). The reform included the demonetisation of the cruzeiro real and required a massive banknote replacement.

At its introduction, the real was defined to be equal to 1 unidade real de valor (URV, "real value unit") a non-circulating currency unit. At the same time, the URV was defined to be worth 2,750 cruzeiros reais, which was the average exchange rate of the U.S. dollar to the cruzeiro real on that day. As a consequence, the real was worth exactly one U.S. dollar as it was introduced; that was equivalent to R$10 in 2020. Combined with all previous currency changes in the country's history, this reform made the new real equal to 2.75 × 10¹⁸ (2.75 quintillion) of Brazil's original réis.

Soon after its introduction, the real unexpectedly gained value against the U.S. dollar, due to large capital inflows in late 1994 and 1995. During that period it attained its maximum dollar value ever, about US$1.20=R$1. Between 1996 and 1998 the exchange rate was tightly controlled by the Central Bank of Brazil, so that the real depreciated slowly and smoothly to the dollar, dropping from near US$1=R$1 to about US$1=R$1.2 by the end of 1998. In January 1999 the deterioration of the international markets, disrupted by the Russian default, forced the Central Bank, under its new president Arminio Fraga, to float the exchange rate. This decision produced a major devaluation, to a rate of almost US$1=R$2.^[2]

In the following years, the currency's value against the dollar followed an erratic but mostly downward path from 1999 until late 2002, when the prospect of the election of leftist candidate Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, considered a radical populist by sectors of the financial markets, prompted another currency crisis and a spike in inflation. Many Brazilians feared another default on government debts or a resumption of heterodox economic policies and rushed to exchange their reais into tangible assets or foreign currencies.

The crisis subsided once Lula took office, after he, his finance minister Antonio Palocci, and Arminio Fraga reaffirmed their intention to continue the orthodox macroeconomic policies of his predecessor (including inflation-targeting, primary fiscal surplus and floating exchange rate, as well as continued payments of the public debt). The value of the real in dollars continued to fluctuate but generally upwards, so that by 2005 the exchange was a little over US$1=R$2. In May 2007, for the first time since 2001 (six years), the real became worth more than US$0.50 — even though the Central Bank, concerned about its effect on the Brazilian economy, had tried to keep it below that symbolic threshold. Lula started his government in 01/01/2003 with an exchange rate of US$1=R$3.52 and finished it in 12/31/2010 with an exchange rate of US$1=R$1.66.^[3]

The exchange rate as of September 2015 was US$1=R$4.05. After a period of gradual recovery, it reached US$1=R$3 by February 2017.

Jair Bolsonaro's tenure, initially welcomed with enthusiasm by the financial markets, started with US$1=R$3.86. Fueled by meager results of the economy, quick disenchantment followed, resulting in a lack of foreign investments and a real's strong depreciation.^[4] On 13 May 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, which deeply affected Brazil,^[5] the real reached a historical low against the US dollar, being negotiated at US$1=R$5.90.^[6]

Following Lula's reelection in the 2022 general elections, the market, which was expected to have reacted poorly, turned out favorable in the first week.^[7][8] The US dollar exchange hit its lowest point since 29 August 2022, dropping from roughly US$1=R$5.30 immediately before the second round of the election, to about US$1=R$5.05 a week after Lula's win.

• Central Bank of Brazil
• Economy of Brazil
• Plano Real
• Portuguese real