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The tiny Caribbean nation of Haiti had the world's second most volatile currency in 2020 rising 25% against the dollar. Above, the Haitan gourde.

The coronavirus pandemic sent global currencies on a downward spiral not seen since the 2015 commodities crash.  "Just about every market went on a wild ride."

A year after currency markets were the calmest in a decade, currency volatility surged in 2020 to an average of 3.53 percent, an 80 percent increase from the 2019 mark of just 1.96 percent, as the result of a virus pandemic that sent many currencies to record lows against the dollar only to regain value by the end of the year, according to annual data gathered by CreditPulse, which tracks 124 global currencies.