Currency and formatting
- Currency
- Ethiopian Birr (ETB)
- Symbol
- ብር — placed before the amount
- Decimal places
- 2
- Formatted example
- ብር 123,456.78
- Thousands separator
- ,
- Decimal separator
- .
- Digit grouping
- threes (3)
- Live rate
- No central-bank source publishes ETB yet
Tax
Payment methods in Ethiopia
Roughly ordered by real-world use — not by what a card processor would prefer you offer.
- 01 telebirr
- 02 cbe birr
- 03 card
- 04 cash on delivery
Card schemes that work domestically: visa, mastercard, ethswitch. 3-D Secure is not standard; strong customer authentication is not legally mandated.
Locale
- Primary
- am-ET
- Also used
- en-ET
- Official languages
- Amharic
- Direction
- left-to-right
- Date format
- DD/MM/YYYY
- Measurement
- metric
- GDPR applies
- no
Phone numbers
- Calling code
- +251
- Mobile format
- +251 XX XXX XXXX
- Digits
- 9
Ethiopia: common questions
What currency does Ethiopia use?
Ethiopia uses the Ethiopian Birr (ETB), symbol ብር. It uses 2 decimal places, formatted as ብር 123,456.78.
How many decimal places does ETB have?
ETB has 2 decimal places. Charging with the wrong number of minor units is a 100× error, so this is worth getting right.
What is the VAT rate in Ethiopia?
The standard VAT rate in Ethiopia is 15.00%. Prices are displayed tax-inclusive.
What payment methods are used in Ethiopia?
The methods that matter in Ethiopia, in rough order of use: telebirr, cbe birr, card, cash on delivery.
What is the dialling code for Ethiopia?
Ethiopia's country calling code is +251. Mobile numbers are formatted +251 XX XXX XXXX (9 digits after the country code).
API_
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