Inflation calculator by year
Compare the purchasing power of money in two historical calendar years. Choose the United States, United Kingdom, Canada or Australia, enter an amount in that country’s currency and select the starting and destination years. The result estimates the destination-year cost of the same average consumer basket.
A higher price index means more currency units are needed for an equivalent basket. A lower index means fewer units. This is useful when comparing an old household budget, historical price or nominal salary with a later year. It does not tell you what a specific product should cost or whether your salary kept pace with your personal expenses.
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If you keep a written spending plan, optional budget planners (paid link) can help record the original amount and several comparison years. No purchase is required to use this tool.
How to compare purchasing power
- Select a country. Its local currency and available years appear beside the form.
- Enter the amount in the starting year, using up to two decimal places.
- Select the year the amount belongs to, then the destination year.
- Calculate to see the equivalent amount, total price change, CPI indexes and worked steps.
You may select an earlier destination year to work backward, or the same year to confirm that the factor is 1. Changing a country or input clears the previous result. The calculator never converts USD into GBP, CAD or AUD.
CPI inflation formula and annualized rate
Total change (%) = (Destination CPI ÷ Starting CPI − 1) × 100
The annualized inflation figure uses the earlier year and later year in chronological order: [(Later CPI ÷ Earlier CPI)^(1 ÷ number of years) − 1] × 100. It is the constant geometric rate that connects the two indexes, rather than the arithmetic average of all intervening annual rates. With the same year selected, annualization is not applicable.
For a US example, the published annual CPI-U was 172.2 in 2000 and 258.811 in 2020. USD 100 × 258.811 ÷ 172.2 is approximately USD 150.30. The total increase is about 50.30%; the annualized increase over 20 years is about 2.06%. The calculation steps use your own inputs, with extra explanation for backward comparisons and the US 2025 exception.
For a manual arithmetic check, optional financial calculators (paid link) can help calculate the ratio and exponent. Currency results are rounded to cents; displayed CPI precision and historical index rounding can affect the last cent.
US, UK, Canada and Australia data coverage
- United States — 1913–2025: published annual CPI-U, all items, U.S. city average, not seasonally adjusted, series CUUR0000SA0. The 2025 annual index is the BLS average of 11 available months because October was unavailable.
- United Kingdom — 1988–2025: ONS all-items CPI annual averages, D7BT, 2015=100. This is CPI rather than CPIH or RPI; modeled earlier history is excluded.
- Canada — 1995–2025: all-items CPI, Canada, 2002=100, Statistics Canada series V41690973 distributed by Bank of Canada. Each annual value is the unrounded mean of 12 published monthly indexes.
- Australia — 1966–2025: ABS all-groups quarterly CPI, weighted average of eight capital cities, A2325846C. Each annual value averages the four quarters on the consistent rebased series from the December 2025 release. Pre-decimal currency years are excluded.
Data was checked on October 20, 2026 and is bundled with this page. It is a historical snapshot, not a live feed. Partial-year 2026 data and future years are excluded. Annual averages differ from a comparison between specific months, December-to-December inflation or the latest headline inflation rate. Different index base years do not prevent comparisons within one country because the base cancels in the ratio.
When learning why different inflation measures disagree, optional economics reference books (paid link) can provide background. The linked official sources below identify the actual series used here.
What an inflation-adjusted amount means
The equivalent amount is an estimate for a broad consumer basket. Your spending mix may put more weight on rent, healthcare, transport or food than that basket does. A property price, tuition bill, investment return or exchange rate can move very differently. Comparing currency units across countries is outside the tool’s scope.
Use your own records for personal cost comparisons. Optional expense ledgers (paid link) can help keep those observations separate from national CPI data. For package-size and unit-price changes, use the existing Shrinkflation Calculator.
This historical comparison does not forecast future inflation or investment returns. For future account scenarios with assumed returns and inflation, use the Investment Growth Calculator. For interest that compounds, use the Compound Interest Calculator. For noncompounding interest on one fixed balance, use the Simple Interest Calculator.
Inflation Calculator FAQs
Sources and methodology
This independent educational implementation uses the data and methods documented above. It is not affiliated with the statistical agencies, central banks or educational publishers. Historical data snapshot and page reviewed October 20, 2026.