---
title: "SARB Exchange Rate API: Official ZAR Rates as JSON"
description: "Official South African Reserve Bank daily exchange rates as JSON — 23 currencies including major African crosses, history back to 2000. REST + npm SDK, free tier included."
canonical: https://allratestoday.com/blog/sarb-exchange-rate-api/
source: AllRatesToday (https://allratestoday.com/) — Markdown mirror of the page above; index of all pages at https://allratestoday.com/llms.txt
generated: 2026-10-16T12:29:01.508Z
---

**South African Reserve Bank** publishes official exchange rates — 23 currencies including major African crosses — and these are the *published official rates* used for tax filings, audits, and compliant invoicing in South Africa, not moving market prices. This guide shows how to pull them as JSON: via a REST endpoint or the zero-dependency [`sarb-exchange-rate`](https://www.npmjs.com/package/sarb-exchange-rate) npm package, with history back to 2000.

  USD → ZAR — official South African Reserve Bank weighted-average rate Weekly observations, Aug '25 – Aug '26 · ZAR per 1 USD

*Source: South African Reserve Bank published rates · chart data from the AllRatesToday API (`/api/v1/central-bank/sarb/history?source=USD&target=ZAR`).*

## What the SARB publishes

- **23 currencies including major African crosses**.
- **History back to 2000** — queryable by exact date or as a time series.
- **The bank's own publication date** on every response, so a rate is always citable.
- **No gaps to trip over** — requests for non-publication days resolve to the most recent published rates and are flagged explicitly.

Rates are the weighted average of the banks' actual foreign exchange transactions at around 10:30 SAST — a published, citable benchmark rather than a snapshot quote.

## Why official rates, not market rates

A live mid-market feed answers "what is USD/ZAR trading at right now?" — the right tool for checkouts and dashboards. But accountants, auditors, and tax authorities ask a different question: "which rate were you *required* to use for this date?" That answer comes from the central bank's published rates, and it never changes after publication.

## Get the latest rates (REST)

```
curl "https://allratestoday.com/api/v1/central-bank/sarb/latest" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"
```

The response is the bank’s most recent published table — one row per pair in its own quoting direction, the publication date (`rate_date`) and a freshness flag. Live example captured 2026-10-09:

```
{
  "bank": "sarb",
  "name": "South African Reserve Bank",
  "rate_date": "2026-10-09",
  "age_days": 1,
  "stale": false,
  "cadence": "daily",
  "rates": [
    {"base": "EUR", "quote": "ZAR", "type": "reference", "value": 18.5595},
    {"base": "GBP", "quote": "ZAR", "type": "reference", "value": 21.894},
    {"base": "USD", "quote": "ZAR", "type": "reference", "value": 16.5319},
    {"base": "ZAR", "quote": "AUD", "type": "reference", "value": 0.0867},
    … 19 more rows
  ],
  "disclaimer": "Official rates as published by the named central bank. On weekends/holidays the most recent published rate_date is returned."
}
```

Most integrations need one pair. Add `source` and `target` and the API returns a single resolved rate — `derived: false` when South African Reserve Bank printed the pair itself:

```
curl "https://allratestoday.com/api/v1/central-bank/sarb/latest?source=USD&target=ZAR" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"
```

```
{
  "bank": "sarb",
  "name": "South African Reserve Bank",
  "rate_date": "2026-10-09",
  "source": "USD",
  "target": "ZAR",
  "rate": 16.5319,
  "rate_type": "reference",
  "derived": false,
  "method": "published",
  "age_days": 1,
  "stale": false,
  "cadence": "daily",
  "disclaimer": "Official rates as published by the named central bank. On weekends/holidays the most recent published rate_date is returned."
}
```

The response is the bank's most recent published data — every rate and the publication date. The latest rates are available on every plan, including the free tier (300 free requests, no credit card).

## The npm SDK

```
npm install sarb-exchange-rate
```

```
import { getRate, getLatestRates } from 'sarb-exchange-rate';

// One pair at the official South African Reserve Bank rate
const pair = await getRate('USD', 'ZAR', { apiKey: 'art_live_...' });
console.log(pair.rate, pair.rate_date);

// The bank's full published table
const table = await getLatestRates({ apiKey: 'art_live_...' });
console.log(table.rate_date, table.rates.length);
```

Zero dependencies, TypeScript types included, and it runs anywhere `fetch` exists — Node 18+, Bun, Deno, and edge runtimes.

## Historical rates for an invoice date

```
import { getRatesForDate, getHistory } from 'sarb-exchange-rate';

// The official rates for an invoice date — non-publication days return
// the most recent published date, flagged via published_on_requested_date.
const day = await getRatesForDate('2026-06-30', { apiKey: 'art_live_...' });

// Time series for one pair
const series = await getHistory(
  { source: 'USD', target: 'ZAR', from: '2026-01-01' },
  { apiKey: 'art_live_...' }
);
```

Historical dates and time series need a [paid plan](https://allratestoday.com/pricing/); the latest rates stay free.

## Published vs derived pairs

If the SARB does not print a pair directly, the API resolves it from the bank's published rates — an inverse, or a cross rate via ZAR — and flags it `derived: true` with the method used. Official and computed values are never silently mixed, which is exactly the distinction an auditor will ask about.

## FAQ

### Does South African Reserve Bank have an official exchange rate API?

South African Reserve Bank publishes its official rates on its website, but not always in a developer-friendly form. AllRatesToday serves the bank's published rates as clean JSON — 23 currencies including major African crosses, with history back to 2000 — via REST or the sarb-exchange-rate npm package. The latest table is free.

### How often do South African Reserve Bank rates update?

Once per business day. These are published reference rates, not moving market prices — the table changes when the bank publishes a new one, and every API response carries the bank's own publication date so you can cite it.

### Can I get the South African Reserve Bank rate for a past date, like an invoice date?

Yes. The /central-bank/sarb/rates-for-date endpoint returns the official rates for any date back to 2000. Non-publication days resolve to the most recent published date and are flagged, so your audit trail stays honest. Historical dates require a paid plan; latest rates are free.

## Official South African Reserve Bank rates, as JSON

The latest rates are free — 300 free requests, no credit card.

 [Get your free API key](https://allratestoday.com/register/)

## Related Articles

- [South African Reserve Bank rates API — product page](https://allratestoday.com/central-bank-rates-api/sarb/)
- [All covered central banks](https://allratestoday.com/central-bank-rates-api/)
- [Central Bank of Argentina exchange rate API guide](https://allratestoday.com/blog/bcra-exchange-rate-api/)
- [Swiss National Bank exchange rate API guide](https://allratestoday.com/blog/snb-exchange-rate-api/)
- [Central bank API documentation](https://allratestoday.com/docs/#central-bank)
- [Best exchange rate APIs in 2026 — how the official-rate and market-rate providers compare](https://allratestoday.com/best/best-exchange-rate-api/)