South Africa Forex Reserves Slip from Record High

Gross foreign exchange reserves in South Africa rose to $81.060 billion in February 2026, hitting a fresh record high, up from $80.193 billion in the previous month. This was driven largely by increases in gold reserves ($20.930 billion vs $20.670 billion in January) and foreign currency reserves ($53.500 billion vs $52.857). At the same time, the forward position, representing the central bank’s unsettled or swap transactions, increased $0.010 billion to $0.574 billion from $0.564 billion in the prior month. In contrast, SDR holdings saw a decrease of $0.036 billion to $6.630 billion from $6.666 billion.

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.

Gross foreign exchange reserves in South Africa climbed to a record high of $75.89 billion in December 2025 from $72.07 billion in the previous month, reflecting gains across all reserve components. Foreign exchange reserves rose to $51.795 billion from $48.728 billion in November, while gold reserves increased to $17.493 billion from $16.838 billion. The central bank’s forward position representing unsettled and swap transactions also improved sharply to $1.161 billion from $0.552 billion last month. Additionally, the SDR holdings also edged higher to $6.604 billion from $6.502 in the preceding period.