One U.S. dollar is now equivalent to one euro for the first time in nearly two decades.
On Tuesday, July 12, the euro and the dollar struck parity after nearly 20 years of the euro being superior.
1 EUR is equal to 1 USD as of Tuesday. With the change, European businesses and individuals will pay more for the goods and services they import while seeing an immediate decrease in the price of European exports on global markets.
Since early February, when the euro was worth over $1.13, its value has fallen dramatically.
It happens at a time when the Russian invasion of Ukraine made inflation worse throughout the European Union.
The amount of Russian oil entering Europe has decreased as a result of EU and US sanctions, and the energy needs of the currency bloc are significantly more dependent on Russian oil than on the US.
In December 1999, a little over a year after making its debut at $1.17, the euro first reached price parity with the dollar.
The dollar remained more valuable than the euro during the tumultuous three years preceding the 2001 dot-com crisis.
During the tech bubble burst, anxious investors held US money as a safe-haven asset. However, since 2003, the euro has continued to outperform the US dollar.
The parity between the two currencies indicates that investors are concerned that a developing economic crisis will have a significant impact on Europe.
