Inflation Calculator

One US dollar from 1980 has the same purchasing power as about $4.07 in 2026. That means prices overall are roughly 4.07 times higher than they were in 1980. You can verify it yourself: divide the 2026 CPI (335.0) by the 1980 CPI (82.4) and multiply by $1.

Inflation calculators use the Consumer Price Index (CPI) ratio:

Value in end year = amount × (CPI in end year ÷ CPI in start year)

Example: $100 in 1980 → 2026 is $100 × (335.0 ÷ 82.4) = $406.55. The cumulative inflation rate is ((CPI end − CPI start) ÷ CPI start) × 100, and the average annual rate is the compound (geometric) average: (CPI end ÷ CPI start)^1/years − 1.

The CPI (Consumer Price Index) is a number that tracks the price of a fixed basket of goods and services over time. Inflation is the rate of change of that index — usually expressed as a percentage per year. Think of CPI as the odometer and inflation as the speed.

Four common reasons: (1) different price indexes — this tool uses the US CPI-U, UK CPI, Euro-area HICP, Canadian CPI, Australian CPI and Indonesian IHK; the Bank of England calculator, for example, uses a long-run composite index, so UK results differ; (2) monthly vs annual CPI — the BLS calculator uses the CPI of a specific month while this tool uses annual averages; (3) data vintage — 2026 figures here are clearly marked preliminary estimates; (4) rounding — CPI values here are rounded to one decimal. The method is identical everywhere; only the inputs differ.

In the United States, annual CPI inflation in 2022 was 8.01% — the highest since 1981 — driven by post-pandemic supply pressures. The UK reached 9.1% and the euro area 8.4% the same year. Select any year pair in the calculator above to see the exact annual rates year by year.

US prices rose by an average of 3.10% per year between 1980 and 2026. Because inflation compounds, that steady-sounding rate turned $1 in 1980 into $4.07 of purchasing power needed in 2026 — a cumulative increase of about 307%.

A dollar in 2026 buys only about 24.6% of what a 1980 dollar bought — it has lost roughly 75.40% of its purchasing power. Flip it around: you need $4.07 today to buy what $1 bought in 1980.

£100 in 1990 has about the same purchasing power as £254.45 in 2026, based on the UK CPI (2015 = 100). Note the UK series in this tool starts in 1988, when the ONS CPI series begins — the Bank of England's calculator goes back further because it uses a different long-run composite index, so its figures differ slightly.

The Office for National Statistics CPI series (the index this tool uses for the UK) begins in 1988. Earlier UK price history exists in other forms — notably the retail prices index and the Bank of England's long-run composite — but mixing different indexes in one calculation would be misleading, so each country here uses one consistent official series. Coverage: US 1913, Canada 1914, Australia 1949, Indonesia 2007, Euro area 1996, UK 1988.

CPI-U (Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers) covers about 93% of the US population and is the headline inflation number most calculators use — including this one. CPI-W covers only urban wage earners and clerical workers (about 29%) and is used mainly to adjust Social Security benefits. For general purchasing-power questions, CPI-U is the right choice.

No — and you should distrust any tool that claims to. This calculator only converts between years with published CPI data (up to 2026, marked preliminary). Future inflation depends on policy, shocks and expectations that no formula can know. For planning, economists often model scenarios like 2% or 3% a year, but those are assumptions, not predictions.

No. CPI tracks an average basket. Housing, healthcare and education have typically risen faster than the headline rate, while electronics have often fallen in price. Your personal inflation rate depends on what you actually buy — the calculator shows the economy-wide average, which is the right benchmark for comparing money across time.

Deflation is a sustained fall in the price level — negative inflation. The clearest US example is the Great Depression: $100 in 1929 had the purchasing power of only $76.02 in 1933 money (prices fell about 24%). Japan experienced mild deflation through much of the 2000s–2010s. The calculator handles deflation automatically — just pick an end year with a lower CPI.

Enter the salary as the amount, the year it was earned as the start year, and the comparison year as the end year. Example: a $20,000 salary in 2000 equals $38.91 in 2026 money. If your actual pay grew by less than that, your real (inflation-adjusted) income fell — even though the nominal number went up.

No. Results are estimates based on CPI averages — useful for understanding purchasing power, comparing historical prices, and illustrating inflation. They are not financial, investment or tax advice. CPI is an average basket; it does not reflect any individual's cost of living, and preliminary 2026 data may be revised.