{"id":861042,"date":"2026-05-21T17:06:54","date_gmt":"2026-05-21T15:06:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=861042"},"modified":"2026-05-21T17:06:57","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T15:06:57","slug":"heres-what-r100-will-buy-you-around-the-world-right-now-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/finance\/861042\/heres-what-r100-will-buy-you-around-the-world-right-now-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Here\u2019s what R100 will buy you around the world right now"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

South Africans have had a difficult start to 2026, dealing with one of the world\u2019s most volatile currencies, high petrol prices, and a rising cost of living.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The South African rand opened 2026 at its strongest level since 2022, buoyed by positive domestic trends, including ongoing economic reforms and rising metals prices, according to a Bloomberg report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In early January, the currency strengthened by as much as 0.6% to R16.50 against the US dollar, outperforming many of its emerging-market peers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The rand had gained 14% during 2025, marking its best annual performance since 2009.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Investor sentiment was boosted by signs that government reforms aimed at boosting economic growth were gaining traction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

South Africa\u2019s economy has averaged growth of less than 1% over the past decade, but optimism around reforms, combined with higher commodity prices, helped support the local unit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The South African Reserve Bank\u2019s commitment to its 3% inflation target also helped anchor inflation expectations and improve confidence in the country\u2019s monetary policy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, much of that momentum was undone after tensions escalated in the Middle East in February following a wave of preemptive airstrikes launched by the United States and Israel. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The resulting Iran war triggered a sharp rise in global oil prices and pushed investors away from riskier emerging-market assets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By May, the rand and local financial markets were trading weaker than at the start of the year, amid concerns about higher inflation and the broader economic fallout from the conflict.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although the currency has avoided the extreme volatility seen during previous global risk-off events, its trading range has shifted weaker over recent months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Investec Chief Economist Annabel Bishop said<\/a> the rand\u2019s trading range had moved to between R16.45\/$ and R17.05\/$, with the currency starting the week near R16.70 to the dollar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By 20 May, the rand was trading at R16.59 against the dollar, R22.21 against the pound, and R19.33 against the euro.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMarkets continue to show risk aversion towards the oil price shock, negatively affecting the rand,\u201d Bishop said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She added that while the local currency had experienced less volatility than during past global shocks, it still ranked among the weaker-performing emerging-market currencies since the outbreak of the war, reflecting a significant sell-off in local assets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What R100 will buy you around the world<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Given the rand’s volatility, BusinessTech looked at some of the most popular travel destinations, cities, and what R100 can buy you around the world right now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As of 3 January 2020, R100 will buy you:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  • UK:<\/strong> \u00a34.51<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • USA:<\/strong> $6.05<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Australia:<\/strong> AU$8.47<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Germany:<\/strong> \u20ac5.22<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Brazil: <\/strong>R$ 30.38<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • China:<\/strong> 41.13 Yuan<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Dubai: <\/strong>22.20 dirham<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Canada: <\/strong>C$ 8.33<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Indonesia:<\/strong> Rp 107,033<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Thailand:<\/strong> 197.79 Baht<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    The prices below are not meant to demonstrate purchasing power parity and do not serve as an equal-weighted price comparison\u2014it is simply a guide on how South African travellers should budget, should they want to engage in \u2018leisure\u2019 activities while touring. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Country<\/th>McDonald’s meal (or equivalent)<\/th>Cappuccino<\/th>Soft drink (330ml)<\/strong><\/td>Beer in pub (500 ml)<\/th>1 Movie Ticket<\/th>Petrol (1 litre)<\/th><\/tr>
    London\/UK<\/td>\u00a38.23<\/strong>
    R182.54<\/em><\/td>    		\u00a34.10<\/strong>
    R90.69<\/em><\/td>    		\u00a32.24<\/strong>
    R49.78<\/em><\/td>    		\u00a36.98<\/strong>
    R154.88<\/em><\/td>    		\u00a314.90<\/strong>
    R331.89<\/em><\/td>    		\u00a31.47<\/strong>
    R32.71<\/em><\/td><\/tr>
    New York\/US<\/td>$13.19<\/strong>
    R218.16<\/em><\/td>    		$5.90<\/strong>
    R97.55<\/em><\/td>    		$3.49<\/strong>
    R57.67<\/em><\/em><\/td>    		$7.96<\/strong>
    R131.72<\/em><\/td>    		$22.90<\/strong>
    R378.69<\/em><\/td>    		$0.99<\/strong>
    R16.34<\/em><\/td><\/tr>
    Sydney\/Australia<\/td>AU$15.49<\/strong>
    R182.60<\/em><\/td>    		AU$5.52<\/strong>
    R65.08<\/em><\/td>    		AU$3.74<\/strong>
    R44.13<\/em><\/td>    		AU$9.99<\/strong>
    R117.81<\/em><\/td>    		AU$24.99<\/strong>
    R294.52<\/em><\/td>    		AU$1.94<\/strong>
    R22.85<\/em><\/td><\/tr>
    Berlin\/Germany<\/td>\u20ac11.98<\/strong>
    R229.68<\/em><\/td>    		\u20ac3.98<\/strong>
    R76.33<\/em><\/td>    		\u20ac3.18<\/strong>
    R61.04<\/em><\/td>    		\u20ac4.49<\/strong>
    R86.13<\/em><\/td>    		\u20ac12.98<\/strong>
    R248.82<\/em><\/td>    		\u20ac1.81<\/strong>
    R34.70<\/em><\/td><\/tr>
    Shanghai\/China<\/td>34.84\u5143<\/strong>
    R84.73<\/em><\/td>    		21.75\u5143<\/strong>
    R52.9<\/em>0<\/td>    		3.80\u5143<\/strong>
    R9.24<\/em><\/td>    		7.96\u5143<\/strong>
    R19.37<\/em><\/td>    		59.73\u5143<\/strong>
    R145.25<\/em><\/td>    		8.21\u5143<\/strong>
    R19.96<\/em><\/td><\/tr>
    Dubai\/UAE<\/td>d 34.85<\/strong>
    R156.92<\/em><\/td>    		d 22.36<\/strong>
    R100.68<\/em><\/td>    		d 5.55<\/strong>
    R25.01<\/em><\/td>    		d 49.79<\/strong>
    R224.17<\/em><\/td>    		d 54.76<\/strong>
    R246.58<\/em><\/td>    		d 3.03<\/strong>
    R13.66<\/em><\/td><\/tr>
    Montreal\/Canada<\/td>C$14.99<\/strong>
    R179.69<\/em><\/td>    		C$5.43<\/strong>
    R65.14<\/em><\/td>    		C$2.77<\/strong>
    R33.20<\/em><\/td>    		C$8.99<\/strong>
    R107.81<\/em><\/td>    		C$16.71<\/strong>
    R200.35<\/em><\/td>    		C$1.73<\/strong>
    R20.77<\/em><\/td><\/tr>
    Bangkok\/Thailand<\/td>249.98 \u0e3f<\/strong>
    R126.38<\/em><\/td>    		93.06 \u0e3f<\/strong>
    R47.05<\/em><\/td>    		23.62 \u0e3f<\/strong>
    R11.94<\/em><\/td>    		99.99 \u0e3f<\/strong>
    R50.55<\/em><\/td>    		249.98 \u0e3f<\/strong>
    R126.38<\/em><\/td>    		43.60 \u0e3f<\/strong>
    R22.04<\/em><\/td><\/tr>
    Rio de Janeiro\/Brazil<\/td>R$37.93<\/strong>
    R124.80<\/em><\/td>    		R$12.29<\/strong>
    R40.44<\/em><\/td>    		R$7.52<\/strong>
    R24.73<\/em><\/td>    		R$11.98<\/strong>
    R39.41<\/em><\/td>    		R$39.92<\/strong>
    R131.37<\/em><\/td>    		R$6.21<\/strong>
    R20.43<\/em><\/td><\/tr>
    Bali\/Indonesia<\/td>Rp<\/strong> 69,772<\/strong>
    R65.24<\/em><\/td>    		Rp 39,335<\/strong>
    R36.78<\/em><\/td>    		Rp 23,02<\/strong>6
    R21.53<\/em><\/td>    		Rp 37,378<\/strong>
    R34.95<\/em><\/td>    		Rp 64,788<\/strong>
    R60.58<\/em><\/td>    		Rp 12,523<\/strong>
    R11.71<\/em><\/td><\/tr>
    Johannesburg\/South Africa<\/td>R100<\/strong><\/td>R39.41<\/strong><\/td>R19.69<\/strong><\/td>R40<\/strong><\/strong><\/td>R140<\/strong><\/td>R26.52<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/div>
    The data was sourced from Numbio. <\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    South Africans have had a difficult start to 2026, dealing with one of the world\u2019s most volatile currencies, high petrol prices, and a rising cost of living.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":861056,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11121],"tags":[9625,3670,853],"class_list":["post-861042","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-finance","tag-numbeo","tag-rand","tag-south-africa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/861042","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/92"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=861042"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/861042\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":861147,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/861042\/revisions\/861147"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/861056"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=861042"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=861042"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=861042"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}