Inflation in South Africa
Consumer prices in South Africa have risen 13,193.1% since January 1957, the start of the official series. That means R100 then buys what R13,293.07 buys in May 2026, so the same basket of goods now costs 132.9 times what it did. Over the most recent year on record, May 2025 to May 2026, prices rose 4.5%.
Cumulative & Yearly Inflation
What R100 would be worth today
Each row takes R100 at that date and shows the equivalent sum in May 2026, the most recent month on record for South Africa.
| Date | Amount then | Worth today | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| January 1957 | R100.00 | R13,293.07 | 13,193.1% |
| January 1970 | R100.00 | R9,583.26 | 9,483.3% |
| January 2000 | R100.00 | R375.81 | 275.8% |
| January 2020 | R100.00 | R135.23 | 35.2% |
How inflation in South Africa is measured
The figures above come from the OECD's national CPI dataset, compiled by South Africa's national statistics office. The series is indexed so that a chosen base year equals 100, and the calculator works out the ratio between any two dates you pick.
Coverage runs from January 1957 to May 2026, and updates automatically as each new release is published. Figures for the most recent periods can be revised by the statistics office after first publication.