Formatting Currency in Indian Numbering Format

Formatting currency in Indian numbering format can be challenging, as it differs from standard Western notation. Typically, a value like 450500 is written as 4,50,500 in India. This article explores the nuances of Indian currency formatting and provides a suitable solution using ICU4J.

The Indian numbering system uses commas to separate digits in groups of two, except for the last group, which is separated by thousands. For example:

• 1
• 10
• 100
• 1,000
• 10,000
• 1,00,000
• 10,00,000
• 1,00,00,000
• 10,00,00,000

Java's standard DecimalFormat class does not support variable-width groups, making it unsuitable for this task. However, the ICU4J NumberFormat class overcomes this limitation.

Format format = com.ibm.icu.text.NumberFormat.getCurrencyInstance(new Locale("en", "in"));
System.out.println(format.format(new BigDecimal("100000000")));

This code outputs:

Rs 10,00,00,000.00

Note that the ICU4J NumberFormat class extends Format, not NumberFormat. In the Android version of DecimalFormat, this feature is supported as well, as it is implemented using ICU.