Inflation Calculator
What an amount will cost, or be worth in today’s money, after years of inflation at a yearly rate you choose. Not based on CPI history.
Result
Enter yearly inflation rate to see the result.
https://calcgallery.com/time-value/inflation-calculator/
Results are arithmetic on the returns, rates and horizons you enter, not a forecast and not investment, tax or retirement advice. The site supplies no expected return, inflation rate, contribution limit, tax rate or withdrawal rate. Real returns vary from year to year, and fees, taxes and the order of returns all change the outcome. Check anything that matters with a qualified adviser. Read the full disclaimer
How to use the Inflation Calculator
- Enter an amount and choose whether you want its cost in the future or a future amount’s worth in today’s money.
- Enter the yearly inflation rate you want to assume and the number of years.
- Read the result, the total rise in prices over the period and the purchasing power lost.
The formula
With an amount A, a yearly inflation rate r and n years:
price factor f = (1 + r)^nfuture cost = A × ftoday's value = A ÷ fThe total rise in prices is f − 1, and the purchasing power lost is 1 − 1/f. A part year compounds for that part: 2.5 years at 7% uses 1.07 to the power of 2.5.
What the rate means
The rate is your assumption about the future, not a figure the site supplies. Prices do not rise at one steady rate, and the things you buy do not all rise together: rent, food and fuel can each move very differently from the overall average. Try a few rates to see how much the answer depends on the one you pick.
Related questions
Inflation works the same way as growth at an interest rate, only applied to prices. The future value and present value calculators do the same arithmetic for savings and discounting, and the rule of 72 estimates how many years it takes for prices to double.
With your numbers
- Price factor = (1 + 3%)^10 = 1.343916
- Worth today = $1,000.00 ÷ 1.343916 = $744.09
- Cost later = $1,000.00 × 1.343916 = $1,343.92
Quick reference
A projection at the one rate you enter, not CPI history. Real prices rise unevenly, and different things rise at different rates.
| Example | Result |
|---|---|
| 1,000 at 3% for 10 years | Cost after those years: $1,343.92 |
| 100 at 2.5% for 20 years | Cost after those years: $163.86 |
| 1,000 in 10 years at 3%, in today’s money | Worth in today’s money: $744.09 |
| 50,000 at 7% for 2.5 years | Cost after those years: $59,214.69 |
| 1,000 at 1% deflation for 5 years | Cost after those years: $950.99 |
| 1,000,000 in 30 years at 2%, in today’s money | Worth in today’s money: €552,070.89 |
| 2,500 at 4% for 5 years | Cost after those years: €3,041.63 |
Common questions about the Inflation Calculator
- Is this based on the Consumer Price Index?
- No. This page does not know what anything cost in any past year. It applies one steady yearly rate that you choose, so it answers questions such as what 1,000 will cost in 10 years if prices rise 3% a year. To find what an amount from a past year is worth now, you need the official price index for your country, which records the rates that actually happened.
- Why does 3% a year add up to more than 30% over ten years?
- Because each year’s rise is on top of the last one. At 3% a year, prices are 1.03 times higher after one year, 1.03 × 1.03 after two, and 1.03 to the power of 10, about 1.344, after ten. That is a 34.39% rise, not 30%.
- What is the difference between the price rise and the purchasing power lost?
- They describe the same change from opposite ends. If prices rise 34.39%, the same money buys 1 ÷ 1.3439 of what it did, which is 25.59% less. The loss is always smaller than the rise, because it is measured against the larger future price.
- Can I enter a negative rate?
- Yes, down to −20% a year. A negative rate is deflation: prices fall, so a future amount is worth more in today’s money than its face value.