Inflation Calculator

Inflation measures how much purchasing power a unit of currency loses over time. This calculator converts an amount between years, showing either what a past sum is worth in today's money or what a future sum will actually buy.

The mechanism is compounding in reverse. At a steady rate, purchasing power after n years is amount divided by (1+i)^n. The erosion is gradual enough to be easy to ignore year to year and severe enough to dominate long horizons — which is precisely why it is underweighted in retirement and long-term savings planning.

The practical consequence is that nominal returns overstate what you have gained. If an investment returns 7% while inflation runs 3%, the real return is roughly 4%, and only the real figure describes any change in what you can actually buy. A savings account paying below the inflation rate loses purchasing power every year despite the balance rising — the number grows while what it buys shrinks. This is the single most useful thing an inflation calculator demonstrates.

Two caveats on interpretation. Published inflation figures describe a broad basket of goods, and your personal rate depends on what you actually spend money on — housing, healthcare, and education have historically risen at rates well above general inflation, so a household weighted toward those experiences more erosion than the headline suggests. And past average rates are not a forecast; inflation varies substantially across decades, so treat any projection as a scenario rather than a prediction. Everything runs in your browser — no login, no upload, and no figure you enter leaves the page.