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The 6 Factors That Influence Exchange Rates

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Every day, close to $5 trillion of currency gets exchanged on global markets.

It’s a market that’s running continuously for 24 hours per weekday around the world – and transactions can happen using different mechanisms, such as spot transactions, outright forwards, foreign exchange swaps, currency swaps, or the use of other types of options.

But what fuels changes in this extremely liquid and busy market, and why are the exchange rates between countries constantly in flux?

Key Market Factors

Today’s infographic comes to us from Hiwayfx and it highlights six of the major factors that can impact currency exchange rates.

6 Factors That Influence Exchange Rates

As with many things in macroeconomics, it’s important to note that many of these factors are related and can feed off each other.

For example, a high rate of inflation can lead to central bank intervention, such as raising interest rates and buying or selling domestic currency. This could lead to an increase in government debt, and so on.

What Influences Exchange Rates?

Here are the six factors summed up again:

1. Government Intervention: Central banks can influence rates by buying or selling the domestic currency.

2. Inflation: Countries with consistently high inflation rates tend to have lower currency values. This is because purchasing value decreases relative to other countries.

3. Interest Rates: A rise in interest rates in a country can offer investors a higher rate of return than other countries. As a result, the currency can appreciate relative to other countries.

4. Current Account Deficits: If a country has a current account deficit, it means that it’s spending more than it’s earning in foreign trade. To make up this deficit, countries may borrow capital from other external sources, which in turn will help make the domestic currency depreciate.

5. Government Debt: Countries with high amounts of debt are less attractive to foreign investors due to the chance of default as well as possible high inflation rates. This can decrease the currency’s value.

6. Speculation: Most trades in the forex markets are speculative trades, which means that sentiment and momentum can play big roles in market activity. Even if the fundamentals don’t align, the market for a currency can continue soaring or depreciating if traders and governments perceive it should.

For a related topic, see a map of the countries with the most foreign currency reserves.

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Markets

The Most Popular TV Brands in the U.S.

Korean brands dominate the U.S. TV market.

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A stacked bar chart ranking the most popular TV brands in the U.S.

The Most Popular TV Brands in the U.S.

This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.

Every year, over 40 million TVs are sold in the U.S., making the device a flagship technology in many American homes.

In this graphic, we illustrate the most popular TV brands in the U.S. based on a 2023 Statista survey of over 8,000 American adults. Respondents were asked, ‘What brand is your main TV?’

Korean Brands Dominate the U.S. TV Market

Samsung and LG combined account for 52% of the TV market share. Interestingly, the two firms have a partnership in place, with LG supplying OLED TV panels to Samsung since 2023.

TV BrandCountry% of Respondents
Samsung🇰🇷 South Korea33
LG🇰🇷 South Korea19
Vizio🇺🇸 U.S.11
Sony🇯🇵 Japan7
Hisense🇨🇳 China5
TCL🇨🇳 China5
Philips🇳🇱 Netherlands3
Insignia🇺🇸 U.S.2
Sanyo🇯🇵 Japan2
Toshiba🇯🇵 Japan2
Sharp🇯🇵 Japan1
Other or don't know--9

Vizio, a California-based company, holds the third position, but its TVs aren’t manufactured in the United States. Rather, they are produced by Taiwanese companies AmTran Technology and Foxconn, the latter being a major manufacturer of the iPhone.

Further down the ranking is Insignia, owned by U.S. retailer Best Buy. While it’s uncertain who produces Insignia TVs, some speculate they’re made by China’s Hisense.

Despite holding the largest market share, South Korea ranks behind Japan in terms of the number of companies among the top brands. Japan boasts four brands on our list, with Sony ranked 4th overall, capturing 7% of the responses.

Growing Market

The U.S. is witnessing a surge in demand for high-definition televisions, driven by consumers’ desire for a more immersive home viewing experience.

Globally, the U.S. leads in revenue generation, with the American TV market projected to generate $18.2 billion in revenue in 2024.

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