{
 "id": "greece-1941-1944",
 "country": "Greece",
 "currency": "Drachma",
 "periodStart": "1941",
 "periodEnd": "1945",
 "peakInflation": "13,800%",
 "peakMonthlyPct": 13800,
 "peakMonth": "October 1944",
 "doubling": "4.27 days",
 "hkEpisode": "May 1941 – Dec 1945",
 "currencyReform": "1 new drachma = 50 billion old",
 "cause": "Occupation costs paid by the Bank of Greece",
 "resolution": "British support, gold sovereign sales, devaluation (1946)",
 "url": "https://hyperinflation.rogzy.org/greece-1941-1944/",
 "summary": "Under German, Italian and Bulgarian occupation, the Greek state could not tax but had to pay the occupiers' monthly costs in drachmas, and the Bank of Greece printed them. Prices rose for four years in waves. The worst month was October 1944, when the occupation ended: 13,800 %, with prices doubling every 4.27 days (H&K). A first redenomination in November 1944 (50 billion old drachmas = 1 new) failed. Stability only came in 1946, with British support and gold sovereigns sold to the public.",
 "timeline": [
  {
   "date": "Oct 1940",
   "event": "Italy invades, and borrowing from the central bank begins."
  },
  {
   "date": "May 1941",
   "event": "Monthly inflation passes 50 % (H&K start)."
  },
  {
   "date": "Nov 1942 – Feb 1943",
   "event": "Hermann Neubacher, an envoy of the occupiers, runs a programme that brings prices down by five-eighths (Wikipedia)."
  },
  {
   "date": "Oct 1943",
   "event": "Prices rise more than 50 % a month again after Italy leaves the war."
  },
  {
   "date": "Aug 1944",
   "event": "534 % in the month."
  },
  {
   "date": "Oct 1944",
   "event": "Peak: 13,800 % (H&K). Athens is liberated on 12 October."
  },
  {
   "date": "11 Nov 1944",
   "event": "The Waley plan sets the new drachma at 50 billion old ones, convertible at 600 to the pound sterling."
  },
  {
   "date": "4 Jun 1945",
   "event": "A second stabilisation plan (Varvaressos)."
  },
  {
   "date": "Dec 1945",
   "event": "Monthly inflation is above 120 % again (Wikipedia). The H&K episode ends."
  },
  {
   "date": "1946",
   "event": "A Currency Committee is set up; Britain writes off £46 million of wartime loans; the drachma is devalued by 50 %; gold sovereigns are sold to the public."
  }
 ],
 "banknotes": [
  {
   "label": "100 billion drachmas (3 Nov 1944)",
   "image": "https://hyperinflation.rogzy.org/assets/bills/web/100_milliards_Drachma.jpg"
  },
  {
   "label": "2 billion drachmas (11 Oct 1944)",
   "image": "https://hyperinflation.rogzy.org/assets/bills/web/2000_millions_drachma.jpg"
  },
  {
   "label": "500 million drachmas (1 Oct 1944)",
   "image": "https://hyperinflation.rogzy.org/assets/bills/web/500_millions_drachma.jpg"
  }
 ],
 "exchangeRates": {
  "unit": "Drachmas per 1 USD (estimated from price indices)",
  "approximate": true,
  "notes": "Occupation from April 1941 to October 1944. Peak 13,800% in October 1944, prices doubling every 4.27 days (Hanke & Krus). Largest note: 100 trillion drachmas. On 11 November 1944, 50 billion old drachmas became 1 new drachma. Approximate series, kept for its shape; individual points are not sourced one by one.",
  "sources": [
   "Bank of Greece",
   "Makinen, G. (1986) The Greek Hyperinflation"
  ],
  "points": [
   {
    "date": "1941-04",
    "rate": 150
   },
   {
    "date": "1941-12",
    "rate": 1100
   },
   {
    "date": "1942-06",
    "rate": 6500
   },
   {
    "date": "1942-12",
    "rate": 19000
   },
   {
    "date": "1943-06",
    "rate": 95000
   },
   {
    "date": "1943-12",
    "rate": 2000000
   },
   {
    "date": "1944-03",
    "rate": 35000000
   },
   {
    "date": "1944-06",
    "rate": 1500000000
   },
   {
    "date": "1944-08",
    "rate": 50000000000
   },
   {
    "date": "1944-09",
    "rate": 1500000000000
   },
   {
    "date": "1944-10",
    "rate": 245000000000000
   },
   {
    "date": "1944-11",
    "rate": 4000000000000000
   }
  ]
 },
 "sources": [
  "Hanke & Krus (2012), World Hyperinflations, Cato WP no. 8 — episode, peak, doubling time.",
  "Wikipedia, \"Greek hyperinflation\" (read 2026-10-05): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_hyperinflation",
  "Makinen, G. E. (1986), \"The Greek Hyperinflation and Stabilization of 1943–1946\", Journal of",
  "Palairet, M. (2000), The Four Ends of the Greek Hyperinflation of 1941–1946, Museum Tusculanum Press."
 ],
 "licence": "Text and data: MIT (c) 2026 Rogzy. Banknote images (c) David St-Onge, not covered by the MIT licence."
}