The year inflation came back everywhere
All four economies in the explorer hit their decade peak in 2022, from 8.0% (US) to 9.1% in the United Kingdom (annual averages).
Explore this period →ABOUT THE PROJECT
Inflation,
made readable.
Inflation is the most-quoted number in economics and one of the least understood. InflationTheGuide turns official price statistics into something you can read, compare and use — for any country, with every number dated and sourced.
- 01 Free, no sign-up
Every chart, calculator and table is open to everyone.
- 02 Official sources only
Numbers come from statistical offices and international agencies, never estimates.
- 03 Every number dated
Each figure shows its period, its measure and when it was released.
WHAT YOU CAN DO HERE
Four ways into the numbers
Every country page has the same four tools in the same place, so once you've learned one, you've learned them all.
01 · TRACK
See where inflation is heading
The latest rate against the central bank's target, a decade or more of history, and your neighbours in grey for context.
Open the chart →02 · UNDERSTAND
Find out what's driving it
Food, housing, energy, transport — see which categories are pushing the headline up and which are pulling it down.
See the drivers →$100.00 in 2015 is worth about
$132.16
in 2024 money · United States CPI
03 · CONVERT
Put old prices into today's money
Check whether a salary kept up, what a past price means now, or how much buying power your savings lost — in your own currency.
Try the calculator →Armenia, 2015–2024
15 +3.7
16 -1.4
17 +1
18 +2.5
19 +1.4
20 +1.2
21 +7.2
22 +8.6
23 +2
24 +0.3
04 · COMPARE
Compare countries and years
A heat map of a whole decade, peer rankings for the same month, and like-for-like comparisons that never mix different measures.
Compare countries →SHOWCASE
Stories the data tells
Short reads built straight from the explorer. Each one opens the exact view behind it.
When prices actually fell
Armenia's consumer prices fell 1.4% on average in 2016 — a true deflation — before inflation returned the following year.
Explore this period →Slower inflation isn't cheaper prices
US inflation fell from 8.0% in 2022 to 2.9% in 2024, yet prices kept rising: the price level ended 2024 about 21% above its end-2020 level.
Explore this period →HOW IT WORKS
From an office's release to a number you can trust
Every country measures prices a little differently. We don't hide that — we label it, line it up carefully, and show our working.
Read the full methodology →- STEP 1
Collect
We pull price indexes from official statistical offices and international agencies as soon as they're released.
- STEP 2
Line up
Rebased, linked across method changes, categories mapped.
- STEP 3
Show
Every rate is recomputed from the index, checked against the official figure, and published with its date.
Our rules
- Never mix measures. National CPI and the EU's harmonised index are shown as separate lines, never blended.
- Missing means missing. Gaps break the line. We never fill a month we don't have.
- The official figure wins. If our calculation and the statistical office disagree, we hold the statistical office's number.
- Placeholders are labelled. Anything illustrative carries an "Illustrative" tag.
- No advice, no predictions. We show what happened to prices, not what you should do about it.
SOURCES
Where the numbers come from
World Bank
Annual · from 1960
Consumer price inflation for nearly every country, reaching back to 1960.
World Development Indicators · FP.CPI.TOTL.ZG
International Monetary Fund
Monthly · CPI, bsaset
Monthly national price indexes, with category detail and weights where countries report them.
IMF IFS · CPI, bsaset
Eurostat
HICP · monthly
The Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices for EU countries and the euro area.
HICP · monthly
US Bureau of Labor Statistics
CPI-U · monthly
US CPI, core inflation and components, plus average prices for selected everyday items.
CPI-U · monthly
Statistical Committee of Armenia
Armenia CPI · monthly
Armenia's national consumer price index and its monthly releases.
Armstat · monthly
UK Office for National Statistics
ONS · monthly
The UK consumer prices index and its detailed categories.
ONS · monthly
InflationTheGuide is independent and not affiliated with or endorsed by any statistical office, central bank, the IMF or the World Bank.
WHO IT'S FOR
Built for people who ask "why is everything more expensive?"
Households
See what's actually happening to the cost of living, in plain words.
Negotiators
Back a salary or rent conversation with a dated, sourced number.
Students
Learn what CPI is — and isn't — with real charts, not textbook ones.
Journalists
Get the latest fast, compare it correctly, and share a clean chart.
Researchers
Long history, monthly detail and exports with full attribution.
FAQ
Questions people ask
Can't find your answer? Suggest a question and we'll add it.
What is inflation, exactly?
Inflation is the rate at which the general level of prices rises. Most countries measure it with a consumer price index (CPI): the cost of a fixed basket of goods and services a typical household buys, priced every month. The inflation rate is how much that basket's cost changed, usually compared with the same month a year earlier.
Why doesn't the official number match what I feel?
The CPI basket is an average across many households. If you spend more on housing or energy than average, those categories hit you harder. The basket is also updated periodically, so very new costs — like recent rent increases — may not yet be fully weighted.
What's the difference between the 12-month rate and the annual average?
The 12-month rate compares prices this month with the same month last year. The annual average is the mean of all 12 monthly rates in a calendar year. Annual averages are smoother and what most long-run comparisons use.
If inflation is falling, why are prices still going up?
Falling inflation means prices are rising more slowly, not that they're coming down. Prices only fall when inflation goes negative (deflation). A price level that rose 8% last year and 3% this year is still 11% above where it was two years ago.
How often is the data updated?
Annual World Bank data is refreshed when the WDI database updates, typically once or twice a year. Monthly data from BLS, Eurostat and Armstat is fetched within days of each official release.
Why did a past number change?
Statistical offices revise their figures — often months later — when methodologies change or surveys are restated. We always show the current official figure, so a number you saw last month may be slightly different today.
Can I use the calculator for a rent or salary contract?
The calculator shows what official price indexes imply. Use it as a reference, not a legal instrument. For contracts, check your jurisdiction's official index guidance.
Can I share or embed the charts?
Yes. Every chart has a Share button that copies a direct link. Embed code coming soon.
Every number has a date, a source and a story.
Go find yours — or tell us which country, chart or question we should add next.