South Africa Inflation Calculator

R

Result: R100 in 1958 → R12,254.46 in 2026

The South African rand has lost 99.184% of its value since 1958

Updated: December 18, 2025

R100 in 1958 is equivalent in purchasing power to about R12,254.46 today, an increase of R12,154.46 over 68 years. The rand had an average inflation rate of 7.33% per year between 1958 and today, producing a cumulative price increase of 12,154.46%.

This means that today's prices are 122.54 times as high as average prices since 1958, according to the OECD and the World Bank consumer price index for South Africa. A rand today only buys 0.816% of what it could buy back then.

The inflation rate in 1958 was 3.46%. The current inflation rate compared to the end of last year is now 2.45%. If this number holds, R100 today will be equivalent in buying power to R102.45 next year.

⌃
Inflation from 1958 to 2026
Cumulative price change12,154.46%
Average inflation rate7.33%
Converted amount
R100 base		R12,254.46
Price difference
R100 base		R12,154.46
CPI in 19581.329
CPI in 2026162.863
Inflation in 19583.46%
Inflation in 20262.45%
R100 in 1958R12,254.46 in 2026
ZAR inflation since 1958
Annual Rate, the OECD and the World Bank CPI
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Buying power of R100 in 1958

This chart shows a calculation of buying power equivalence for R100 in 1958 (price index tracking began in 1957).

For example, if you started with R100, you would need to end with R12,254.46 in order to "adjust" for inflation (sometimes refered to as "beating inflation").

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When R100 is equivalent to R12,254.46 over time, that means that the "real value" of a single South African rand decreases over time. In other words, a rand will pay for fewer items at the store.

This effect explains how inflation erodes the value of a rand over time. By calculating the value in 1958 dollars, the chart below shows how R100 is worth less over 68 years.

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According to the OECD and the World Bank, each of these ZAR amounts below is equal in terms of what it could buy at the time:

Rand inflation: 1958-2026
YearRand ValueInflation Rate
1958R100.003.46%
1959R101.221.22%
1960R102.521.29%
1961R104.682.10%
1962R105.981.25%
1963R107.401.34%
1964R110.122.53%
1965R114.614.07%
1966R118.603.49%
1967R122.803.54%
1968R125.241.99%
1969R129.303.24%
1970R135.754.99%
1971R143.845.96%
1972R153.086.43%
1973R167.529.43%
1974R187.1611.72%
1975R212.2913.43%
1976R235.6911.02%
1977R261.9711.15%
1978R291.1411.14%
1979R329.8513.29%
1980R374.9013.66%
1981R432.0915.25%
1982R495.3514.64%
1983R556.2912.30%
1984R620.4111.53%
1985R721.5016.29%
1986R856.1018.65%
1987R994.4516.16%
1988R1,121.5312.78%
1989R1,286.7514.73%
1990R1,471.0214.32%
1991R1,696.6015.33%
1992R1,932.0013.87%
1993R2,119.749.72%
1994R2,309.218.94%
1995R2,509.668.68%
1996R2,694.227.35%
1997R2,925.878.60%
1998R3,127.186.88%
1999R3,289.225.18%
2000R3,464.835.34%
2001R3,662.395.70%
2002R4,010.129.49%
2003R4,237.875.68%
2004R4,208.55-0.69%
2005R4,295.362.06%
2006R4,434.703.24%
2007R4,708.676.18%
2008R5,175.309.91%
2009R5,549.897.24%
2010R5,775.634.07%
2011R6,064.465.00%
2012R6,412.445.74%
2013R6,783.095.78%
2014R7,199.086.13%
2015R7,524.394.52%
2016R8,021.216.60%
2017R8,437.215.19%
2018R8,817.724.51%
2019R9,179.504.10%
2020R9,476.213.23%
2021R9,913.904.62%
2022R10,611.827.04%
2023R11,256.516.08%
2024R11,747.434.36%
2025R12,229.734.11%
2026R12,254.460.20%*
* Compared to previous annual rate. Not final. See inflation summary for latest 12-month trailing value.
Click to show 62 more rows

This conversion table shows various other 1958 amounts in today's rand, based on the 12,154.46% change in prices:

Conversion: 1958 rand today
Initial valueEquivalent value
R1 rand in 1958R122.54 rand today
R5 rand in 1958R612.72 rand today
R10 rand in 1958R1,225.45 rand today
R50 rand in 1958R6,127.23 rand today
R100 rand in 1958R12,254.46 rand today
R500 rand in 1958R61,272.31 rand today
R1,000 rand in 1958R122,544.61 rand today
R5,000 rand in 1958R612,723.07 rand today
R10,000 rand in 1958R1,225,446.14 rand today
R50,000 rand in 1958R6,127,230.71 rand today
R100,000 rand in 1958R12,254,461.42 rand today
R500,000 rand in 1958R61,272,307.09 rand today
R1,000,000 rand in 1958R122,544,614.19 rand today

How to calculate inflation rate for R100 since 1958

Our calculations use the following inflation rate formula to calculate the change in value between 1958 and today:

CPI today CPI in 1958
×
1958 ZAR value
=
Today's value

Then plug in historical CPI values. The South African CPI was 1.329012 in the year 1958 and 162.863262787897 in 2026:

162.8632627878971.329012
×
R100
=
R12,254.46

R100 in 1958 has the same "purchasing power" or "buying power" as R12,254.46 in 2026.

To get the total inflation rate for the 68 years between 1958 and 2026, we use the following formula:

CPI in 2026 - CPI in 1958CPI in 1958
×
100
=
Cumulative inflation rate (68 years)

Plugging in the values to this equation, we get:

162.863262787897 - 1.3290121.329012
×
100
=
12,154%

Data source & citation

You may use the following MLA citation for this page: “South Africa Inflation Calculator: World Bank data, 1958-2026 (ZAR).” Official Inflation Data, Alioth Finance, 10 Jan. 2026, https://www.officialdata.org/south-africa/inflation.

Special thanks to QuickChart for their chart image API, which is used for chart downloads.

Ian Webster

About the author

Ian Webster is an engineer and data expert based in San Mateo, California. He has worked for Google, NASA, and consulted for governments around the world on data pipelines and data analysis. Disappointed by the lack of clear resources on the impacts of inflation on economic indicators, Ian believes this website serves as a valuable public tool. Ian earned his degree in Computer Science from Dartmouth College.

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» Read more about inflation and investment.

Inflation from 1958 to 2026
Cumulative price change12,154.46%
Average inflation rate7.33%
Converted amount
R100 base		R12,254.46
Price difference
R100 base		R12,154.46
CPI in 19581.329
CPI in 2026162.863
Inflation in 19583.46%
Inflation in 20262.45%
R100 in 1958R12,254.46 in 2026