South Africa Foreign Exchange Reserves

Last Release

Jan 31, 2026

Actual

80,193

Units In

USD Million

75,890

Frequency

Monthly

Next Release

Mar 06, 2026

Time to Release

27 Days 2 Hours

Highest	Lowest	Average	Date Range	Source
80,193 Jan 2026	5,316 Sep 1998	37,356.15 USD Million	1998-2026	South African Reserve Bank

In South Africa, Foreign Exchange Reserves are the foreign assets held or controlled by the country central bank. The reserves are made of gold or a specific currency. They can also be special drawing rights and marketable securities denominated in foreign currencies like treasury bills, government bonds, corporate bonds and equities and foreign currency loans.

Latest Updates

Gross foreign exchange reserves in South Africa rose to $80.193 billion in January 2026, the largest value since records began in 1998, from $75.892 billion in the previous month. This was driven by increases in gold reserves ($20.670 billion vs $17.493 billion in December 2025), SDR holdings ($6.666 billion vs $6.604 billion), and foreign currency reserves ($52.857 billion vs $51.795 billion). Meanwhile, the forward position, representing the central bank's unsettled or swap transactions, decreased sharply to $0.564 billion in January from $1.161 billion in the prior month.