As a small and growing investor, I'm always looking for higher yield investments, and despite deposits doesn't fit in my wealth building strategy, I have made some pocket money in the past.
Update: Highest Deposit Rates in the World by Country 2019
Personally, I would favor peer to peer lending marketplace like Mintos.com over the hustle of opening a foreign bank account in a distant country just to chase a higher deposit rate.
Top Peer to Peer Lending Sites 2019 (Highest Yields)
Both individuals and entities can invest through Mintos. Individual investors must be at least 18 years old, have a bank account in the European Union or third countries currently considered to have AML/CFT systems equivalent to the EU, and have their identity successfully verified by Mintos. At the moment, US citizens or taxpayers cannot register as investors at Mintos.
Affiliate link here: Sign up to Mintos.com here. By using this affiliate link for registration both you and I will receive — 1% of your average daily balance which should be paid in 3 installments for the first 90 days.
Remember - investments are risky, never invest more you can afford to lose.
A couple of years ago, while I was still sticking with savings accounts and deposit rates I compared highest deposit rates in Europe, today while browsing for information online about highest deposit rates, I found a lovely website - deposits.org, listing interest rates by countries, regions and even individual banks.
Deposits.org provides the largest marketplace for retail interest bearing products for deposits, personal loans, home loans, credit cards, savings, SME financing and other exotic investment opportunities. We are the one-stop comprehensive reference for international financing and investment
According to the deposits.org research, these following countries offer highest deposit rates in 2018 in national currencies
| Country | Interest Rate | Inflation |
Currency
|
| Argentina | 20.47% | 27.60% | ARS |
| Uzbekistan | 20.00% | 11% | UZS |
| Ukraine | 15.25% | 49% | UAH |
| Iran | 15.00% | 15.30% | IRR |
| Mongolia | 15.00% | 8.30% | MNT |
| Georgia | 10.40% | 4.10% | GEL |
| Azerbaijan | 10.00% | 2.40% | AZN |
| Egypt | 10.00% | 13.30% | EGP |
| Kazakhstan | 10.00% | 5.80% | KZT |
| Myanmar | 10.00% | 8.90% | MMK |
Data source: World Deposit Rates
Among the highest deposit rates in the World, there are many Former Soviet Union countries (Uzbekistan, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan). As a foreigner living in Georgia, I've been using Georgia's banks in the past for savings, though I have got a very negative experience when dealing with national currencies - they are volatile. My February Savings Report - GEL Loses Another 16.5% Against USD; -17% Against EUR
As you can see in the above table, in some countries inflation rate is far greater than interest rate (Argentina, Ukraine, Iran, Egypt).
I would be cautious when depositing in national currencies.
Now, let's see how about deposits in more stable USD currency:
| Country |
Interest Rate
|
| Ukraine | 5.00% |
| Cambodia | 4.75% |
| Sri Lanka | 3.50% |
| Zimbabwe | 3.50% |
| Georgia | 3.50% |
| Iraq | 3.50% |
| Laos | 3.40% |
| Azerbaijan | 3.00% |
| Kazakhstan | 3.00% |
| Afghanistan | 2.75% |
Now, this looks more interesting (despite lower interest rate) - in 2018, you could get up to 5% in deposit rates. On the other hand, countries with highest interest rates are politically and economically unstable, by choosing to deposit at one of the above-listed countries you could actually lose some or all of your savings (in case bank goes bankrupt)