South Africa Inflation Calculator

R

Result: R100 in 1957 → R12,339.72 in 2024

The South African rand has lost 99.190% of its value since 1957

Updated: September 11, 2025

R100 in 1957 is equivalent in purchasing power to about R12,339.72 today, an increase of R12,239.72 over 67 years. The rand had an average inflation rate of 7.45% per year between 1957 and today, producing a cumulative price increase of 12,239.72%.

This means that today's prices are 123.40 times as high as average prices since 1957, according to the OECD and the World Bank consumer price index for South Africa. A rand today only buys 0.810% of what it could buy back then.

The inflation rate in 1957 was Infinity%. The current inflation rate compared to the end of last year is now 5.49%. If this number holds, R100 today will be equivalent in buying power to R105.49 next year.

⌃
Inflation from 1957 to 2024
Cumulative price change12,239.72%
Average inflation rate7.45%
Converted amount
R100 base		R12,339.72
Price difference
R100 base		R12,239.72
CPI in 19571.283
CPI in 2024158.258
Inflation in 19570.00%
Inflation in 20245.49%
R100 in 1957R12,339.72 in 2024
ZAR inflation since 1957
Annual Rate, the OECD and the World Bank CPI
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Buying power of R100 in 1957

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

For example, if you started with R100, you would need to end with R12,339.72 in order to "adjust" for inflation (sometimes refered to as "beating inflation").

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When R100 is equivalent to R12,339.72 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 1957 dollars, the chart below shows how R100 is worth less over 67 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: 1957-2024
YearRand ValueInflation Rate
1957R100.00NaN%
1958R103.463.46%
1959R104.721.22%
1960R106.071.29%
1961R108.302.10%
1962R109.651.25%
1963R111.121.34%
1964R113.942.53%
1965R118.574.07%
1966R122.713.49%
1967R127.053.54%
1968R129.581.99%
1969R133.773.24%
1970R140.454.99%
1971R148.825.96%
1972R158.386.43%
1973R173.329.43%
1974R193.6411.72%
1975R219.6413.43%
1976R243.8511.02%
1977R271.0411.15%
1978R301.2211.14%
1979R341.2713.29%
1980R387.8813.66%
1981R447.0515.25%
1982R512.5014.64%
1983R575.5512.30%
1984R641.8911.53%
1985R746.4816.29%
1986R885.7418.65%
1987R1,028.8816.16%
1988R1,160.3712.78%
1989R1,331.3014.73%
1990R1,521.9514.32%
1991R1,755.3415.33%
1992R1,998.8913.87%
1993R2,193.139.72%
1994R2,389.178.94%
1995R2,596.568.68%
1996R2,787.517.35%
1997R3,027.178.60%
1998R3,235.466.88%
1999R3,403.115.18%
2000R3,584.805.34%
2001R3,789.205.70%
2002R4,148.979.49%
2003R4,384.615.68%
2004R4,354.26-0.69%
2005R4,444.092.06%
2006R4,588.253.24%
2007R4,871.706.18%
2008R5,362.5110.07%
2009R5,749.437.22%
2010R5,984.564.09%
2011R6,283.755.00%
2012R6,643.475.72%
2013R7,027.765.78%
2014R7,458.556.13%
2015R7,797.224.54%
2016R8,309.606.57%
2017R8,740.395.18%
2018R9,135.214.52%
2019R9,511.614.12%
2020R9,816.933.21%
2021R10,269.654.61%
2022R10,992.617.04%
2023R11,746.276.86%
2024R12,339.725.05%*
* Compared to previous annual rate. Not final. See inflation summary for latest 12-month trailing value.
Click to show 61 more rows

This conversion table shows various other 1957 amounts in today's rand, based on the 12,239.72% change in prices:

Conversion: 1957 rand today
Initial valueEquivalent value
R1 rand in 1957R123.40 rand today
R5 rand in 1957R616.99 rand today
R10 rand in 1957R1,233.97 rand today
R50 rand in 1957R6,169.86 rand today
R100 rand in 1957R12,339.72 rand today
R500 rand in 1957R61,698.61 rand today
R1,000 rand in 1957R123,397.21 rand today
R5,000 rand in 1957R616,986.06 rand today
R10,000 rand in 1957R1,233,972.13 rand today
R50,000 rand in 1957R6,169,860.63 rand today
R100,000 rand in 1957R12,339,721.26 rand today
R500,000 rand in 1957R61,698,606.30 rand today
R1,000,000 rand in 1957R123,397,212.61 rand today

How to calculate inflation rate for R100 since 1957

Our calculations use the following inflation rate formula to calculate the change in value between 1957 and today:

CPI today CPI in 1957
×
1957 ZAR value
=
Today's value

Then plug in historical CPI values. The South African CPI was 1.282509 in the year 1957 and 158.25803574504084 in 2024:

158.258035745040841.282509
×
R100
=
R12,339.72

R100 in 1957 has the same "purchasing power" or "buying power" as R12,339.72 in 2024.

To get the total inflation rate for the 67 years between 1957 and 2024, we use the following formula:

CPI in 2024 - CPI in 1957CPI in 1957
×
100
=
Cumulative inflation rate (67 years)

Plugging in the values to this equation, we get:

158.25803574504084 - 1.2825091.282509
×
100
=
12,240%

Data source & citation

You may use the following MLA citation for this page: “Value of 1957 South African rand today | South Africa Inflation Calculator.” Official Inflation Data, Alioth Finance, 15 Dec. 2025, https://www.officialdata.org/south-africa/inflation/1957.

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 1957 to 2024
Cumulative price change12,239.72%
Average inflation rate7.45%
Converted amount
R100 base		R12,339.72
Price difference
R100 base		R12,239.72
CPI in 19571.283
CPI in 2024158.258
Inflation in 19570.00%
Inflation in 20245.49%
R100 in 1957R12,339.72 in 2024