Chart of the Day: China’s Yuan Overtakes Yen to Rank Fourth for Global Payments

The yuan overtook the Japanese yen to become the fourth-most used currency by value in global payments for the first time in almost two years, according to a monthly tracker of the Chinese currency released by the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT).

The share of the yuan as a global payment currency climbed to 4.61% in November from 3.6% the previous month, according to data compiled by SWIFT and released on Thursday. The redback surpassed the Japanese yen, whose share came in at 3.41% in November, down from 3.91% the month before.