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South African rand (ZAR) exchange rate today — official vs market

South Africa · South African rand (ZAR). Official rate as of Sep 22, 2026 · Market data fetched Sep 23, 4:20 AM GMT. All rates = units of local currency per 1 US dollar.

Official (per $1)16.2418reference · ECB reference rates (via Frankfurter API)
Market (per $1)17.5parallel · Bybit P2P
Premium vs official+7.75%Market vs official (positive = market weaker)
Coveragelive
Central bank policy rate7.00%Policy rate (repo) · South African Reserve Bank · effective 2026-05-29 · source

Premium history

-17%-0.01%0.00%17%Aug 25Sep 8Sep 222026-08-25: +0.64%2026-08-26: +0.53%2026-08-27: +4.15%2026-08-28: -0.01%2026-08-31: -0.72%2026-09-01: -13.34%2026-09-02: -13.01%2026-09-03: -12.70%2026-09-04: -12.32%2026-09-07: -12.45%2026-09-08: -0.09%2026-09-09: -12.78%2026-09-10: -13.91%2026-09-11: +5.21%2026-09-14: +4.62%2026-09-15: +6.25%2026-09-16: +5.05%2026-09-17: +5.03%2026-09-18: +5.95%2026-09-21: +3.33%2026-09-22: +13.90%

21 observed days · Aug 25 – Sep 22 · no interpolation

  • 7-day change+7.66 pp
  • Min / max (observed range)-14% / 14%
  • Volatility (std dev of daily premium)8.7%
  • Continent rank7th widest of 54

Context

The South African rand currently trades at a premium of +7.75% — the 7th widest gap of the 54 African currencies we track. That places it in the friction band (2–10%), where spreads often reflect liquidity, fees, or access costs rather than acute scarcity.

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