Pound fell against 56 world currencies in 2016

The pound sterling lost a fifth of its value against nine major currencies last year, Lloyds Private Banking says in an analysis.

According to research the agency did into 60 currencies, the biggest declines in sterling were against the Brazilian real with a 28.4 percent drop, the Russian rouble with a 28 percent fall, and the Icelandic krona with a 27.9 percent decrease.

The declines in 2016 came after a stronger year for the pound in 2015 when sterling gained against over three-quarters of the currencies studied by Lloyds.

Throughout 2016, however, the pound declined against 56 of the 60 currencies it analyzed, only making important gains against two currencies.

The two currencies include the Egyptian pound, against which sterling went up by 105.8 percent, and the Mozambique metical, against which the pound had a 23-percent increase.

The UK pound also rose by 0.3 percent against the Turkish lira and remained stable against the Danish krone, the analysis showed.

“The pound’s decline is bad news for British holidaymakers, with most destinations becoming more expensive in 2016. Many British expats will also be feeling the pinch; those with incomes in sterling such as pensioners are getting fewer pounds when converting their money,” said  Peter Reid, expatriate banking director at Lloyds Private Banking.

“However, on the other end of the bargain, British expats living and working abroad and earning in foreign currencies are now getting more pounds for their money and they are seeing their spending power surge when they head back to the UK.”

The report comes at a time when the UK’s economic situation has been badly affected by Brexit.

In a referendum held on June 23, nearly 52 percent of British voters opted to leave the bloc, a decision that sent shock waves throughout the world.

The new analysis showed, however, that sterling performance was almost similar in the six months before and the six months after the Brexit vote.

Sterling fell in value against 54 out of the 60 currencies evaluated in the six months prior to the EU referendum, and declined in the six months following the referendum against 51 countries.