The USD/ZAR exchange rate rose to 17.5584 on July 4, 2025, up 0.30% from the previous session. Over the past month, the South African Rand has strengthened 1.08%, and is up by 3.39% over the last 12 months. South African Rand - values, historical data, forecasts and news - updated on July of 2025.

United States Spot Exchange Rate: South African Rand to US Dollar data was reported at 14.487 ZAR/USD in Oct 2018. This records a decrease from the previous number of 14.750 ZAR/USD for Sep 2018. United States Spot Exchange Rate: South African Rand to US Dollar data is updated monthly, averaging 3.599 ZAR/USD from Jan 1971 (Median) to Oct 2018, with 574 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 16.325 ZAR/USD in Jan 2016 and a record low of 0.668 ZAR/USD in Jul 1974. United States Spot Exchange Rate: South African Rand to US Dollar data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Federal Reserve Board. The data is categorized under Global Database’s United States – Table US.M015: Spot Exchange Rate.

Prices for USDZAR US Dollar South African Rand including live quotes, historical charts and news. USDZAR US Dollar South African Rand was last updated by Trading Economics this June 29 of 2025.

Key information about South Africa Exchange Rate against USD

• South Africa Exchange Rate against USD averaged 19.032 (USD/ZAR) in May 2023, compared with 18.193 USD/ZAR in the previous month.
• South Africa Exchange Rate against USD data is updated monthly, available from Jan 1957 to May 2023.
• The data reached an all-time high of 19.032 in May 2023 and a record low of 0.668 in Jul 1974.

CEIC extends history for monthly average Exchange Rate against USD. Federal Reserve Board provides average Exchange Rate against USD. Exchange Rate against USD prior to January 1971 is sourced from the International Monetary Fund.


Key information about South Africa Exchange Rate against USD

• In the latest reports, South Africa Short Term Interest Rate: Month End: Treasury Bills Rate: 91 Days was reported at 8.150 % pa in May 2023.
• Its Long Term Interest Rate (Government Bond Yield: Month End: 10 Years and Over) was reported at 12.430 % pa in May 2023.
• The cash rate (Policy Rate: Month End: Repo Rate) was set at 8.250 % pa in May 2023.

Foreign Exchange Rate: BCE: Ecuador Dollar to South African Rand data was reported at 0.068 USD/ZAR in Oct 2018. This records a decrease from the previous number of 0.071 USD/ZAR for Sep 2018. Foreign Exchange Rate: BCE: Ecuador Dollar to South African Rand data is updated monthly, averaging 0.112 USD/ZAR from May 2006 (Median) to Oct 2018, with 150 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 0.152 USD/ZAR in Oct 2007 and a record low of 0.062 USD/ZAR in Jan 2016. Foreign Exchange Rate: BCE: Ecuador Dollar to South African Rand data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Central Bank of Ecuador. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Ecuador – Table EC.M003: Foreign Exchange Rate.

Prices for AUDZAR Australian Dollar South African Rand including live quotes, historical charts and news. AUDZAR Australian Dollar South African Rand was last updated by Trading Economics this July 5 of 2025.

Prices for NZDZAR New Zealand Dollar South African Rand including live quotes, historical charts and news. NZDZAR New Zealand Dollar South African Rand was last updated by Trading Economics this July 5 of 2025.

Forex: FCB: Buy: New Taiwan Dollar to South African Rand data was reported at 2.059 NTD/ZAR in Oct 2018. This records a decrease from the previous number of 2.104 NTD/ZAR for Sep 2018. Forex: FCB: Buy: New Taiwan Dollar to South African Rand data is updated monthly, averaging 7.030 NTD/ZAR from Jun 1980 (Median) to Oct 2018, with 373 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 48.140 NTD/ZAR in Dec 1980 and a record low of 2.008 NTD/ZAR in May 2016. Forex: FCB: Buy: New Taiwan Dollar to South African Rand data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by First Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Taiwan – Table TW.M007: Foreign Exchange Rates.

A graphic that displays the dollar performance against other currencies reveals that economic developments had mixed results on currency exchanges. The third quarter of 2023 marked a period of disinflation in the euro area, while China's projected growth was projected to go up. The United States economy was said to have a relatively strong performance in Q3 2023, although growing capital market interest rate and the resumption of student loan repayments might dampen this growth at the end of 2023. A relatively weak Japanese yen Q3 2023 saw pressure from investors towards Japanese authorities on how they would respond to the situation surrounding the Japanese yen. The USD/JPY rate was close to ***, whereas analysts suspected it should be around ** given the country's purchase power parity. The main reason for this disparity is said to be the differences in central bank interest rates between the United States, the euro area, and Japan. Any future aggressive changes from, especially the U.S. Fed might lower those differences. Financial markets responded somewhat disappoint when Japan did not announce major plans to tackle the situation. Potential rent decreases in 2024 Central bank rates peak in 2023, although it is expected that some of these will decline in early 2024. That said, analysts expect overall policies will remain restrictive. For example, the Bank of England's interest rate remained unchanged at **** percent in Q3 2023. It is believed the United Kingdom's central bank will ease its interest rate in 2024 but less than either the U.S. Fed or the European Central Bank. This should be a positive development for the pound compared to either the euro or the dollar.

South Africa External Debt: Foreign: USD: Rand Denominated data was reported at 107.296 USD bn in Mar 2018. This records an increase from the previous number of 97.368 USD bn for Dec 2017. South Africa External Debt: Foreign: USD: Rand Denominated data is updated quarterly, averaging 54.814 USD bn from Mar 2003 (Median) to Mar 2018, with 61 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 107.296 USD bn in Mar 2018 and a record low of 9.479 USD bn in Mar 2003. South Africa External Debt: Foreign: USD: Rand Denominated data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by South African Reserve Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s South Africa – Table ZA.JB010: BPM5: External Debt.

The South African advertising industry is projected to grow from 1.35 billion U.S. dollars in 2011 to 3.24 billion U.S. dollars by 2023, owing to factors such as the growing number of advertising agencies, increased advertising spend by enterprises and the growth in digital and mobile advertising. Although TV and video was the largest medium in 2019, internet advertising is expected to account for the major share in the medium term, owing to growing internet penetration and the increasing number of mobile internet users. In fact, mobile advertising revenue is projected to grow over two-fold between 2018-2023. In terms of ad spend, Shoprite Holdings is the highest spender, with a total spend of nearly 1.48 billion South African rand in 2017-18. Clientele Life, followed by Unilever South Africa, Outsurance Insurance and Coca Cola South Africa follow suit respectively. The Omnicom media group is the leading advertising agency, having garnered 582 million U.S. dollars in 2017, followed by the Media shop and Mindshare. Advertising industry likely to experience recession in the short term Industry experts predict that a recession in the advertising sector is highly probable as enterprises all over the world are reducing their ad spend and postponing ad campaigns, owing to Covid-19. According to data from the World Federation of Advertisers, nearly 81 percent of large advertisers are deferring planned ad campaigns, including Coca Cola, Unilever, Visa and Airbnb.

Inflation in Zimbabwe rose to 10.61 percent in 2018, and is projected to jump dramatically to 736.11 percent in 2024. After that, estimates predict a slow decline for now - however, given Zimbabwe’s history of poor monetary policy, including one of the worst instances of hyperinflation, this seems unrealistic. Inflation history Inflation depends significantly on economic expectations of it, making it hard to reduce inflation once it has hit higher levels. This happened in Zimbabwe in the years approaching 2008, at the end of which a single U.S. dollar was worth over 2.6 trillion Zimbabwe dollars, up from 10,000 Zimbabwe dollars at the start of 2005. This all but destroyed Zimbabwe’s economy, leading to very low gross domestic product (GDP) per capita and a government struggling to finance itself. The way ahead In 2009, the Zimbabwean dollar had twelve zeros slashed from the banknotes. This was not enough, and after three decades of rule, former Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe was removed from power at the end of 2017. Citizens of the country are trying to hold foreign banknotes; they prefer U.S. dollars or euros, but the South African rand is more common. However, the rand’s performance against other currencies has been lackluster in recent years. This underscores the struggle that the Zimbabwean people have to find a stable currency at the moment.

The gross domestic product (GDP) in current prices in South Africa was estimated at about 400.19 billion U.S. dollars in 2024. Between 1980 and 2024, the GDP rose by approximately 310.78 billion U.S. dollars, though the increase followed an uneven trajectory rather than a consistent upward trend. The GDP will steadily rise by around 89.82 billion U.S. dollars over the period from 2024 to 2030, reflecting a clear upward trend.This indicator describes the gross domestic product at current prices. The values are based upon the GDP in national currency converted to U.S. dollars using market exchange rates (yearly average). The GDP represents the total value of final goods and services produced during a year.

As of 2024, around **** million people in South Africa are living in extreme poverty, with the poverty threshold at **** U.S. dollars daily. This means that ******* more people were pushed into poverty compared to 2023. Moreover, the headcount was forecast to increase in the coming years. By 2030, over **** million South Africans will live on a maximum of **** U.S. dollars per day. Who is considered poor domestically? Poverty is measured using several matrices. For example, local authorities tend to rely on the national poverty line, assessed based on consumer price indices (CPI) of a basket of goods of food and non-food components. In 2023, the domestic poverty line in South Africa stood at ***** South African rand per month (around ***** U.S. dollars per month). According to a survey, social inequality and poverty worried a significant share of the South African respondents. As of September 2024, some ** percent of the respondents reported that they were worried about the state of poverty and unequal income distribution in the country.   Eastern Cape residents received more grants South Africa’s labor market has struggled to absorb the country’s population. In 2023, almost a third of the economically active population was unemployed. Local authorities employ relief assistance and social grants in an attempt to reduce poverty and assist poor individuals. In 2023, almost ** percent of South African households received state support, with the majority share benefiting in the Eastern Cape.

In 2018, the hotel room revenue in South Africa accounted for approximately 16.71 billion South African rand (which is comparable to 1.15 U.S. billion dollars). Total revenue from hotel rooms is forecast to reach 19.65 billion South African rand (1.35 billion U.S. dollars) by 2023.

Monthly income in rand, rounded to the nearest R500 (U.S. dollars at R12/$1)a.

The Gross Domestic Product per capita in South Africa was last recorded at 5708.96 US dollars in 2024. The GDP per Capita in South Africa is equivalent to 45 percent of the world's average. This dataset provides the latest reported value for - South Africa GDP per capita - plus previous releases, historical high and low, short-term forecast and long-term prediction, economic calendar, survey consensus and news.