Inflation Calculator
See how inflation changes the value of money over time.
What money is really worth
Inflation erodes the buying power of money, so a sum in the past bought more than the same sum today, and money in the future will buy less. This works out the equivalent value across years at a given inflation rate, so you can compare amounts fairly across time rather than being fooled by the face number.
Enter an amount, a period and a rate to see the adjusted value.
Why it matters for the future too
Inflation reframes a lot of financial thinking. Comparing a salary or a price from decades ago to now is meaningless without adjusting for it — old figures always look small until you translate them. Looking forward, it means cash sitting idle loses value quietly every year, and a savings target for the future needs to be larger than today's equivalent to buy the same things. It is also why an investment return that merely matches inflation is really standing still. Understanding inflation is what separates the nominal number from the real value, which is the number that actually matters for what money can do.
Questions & answers
Why does old money look like so little?
Because inflation raised prices since then — adjusting for inflation translates a past sum into what it would be worth in today's money, which is far higher.
Why is idle cash a problem?
Inflation erodes its buying power every year, so money that merely sits, or earns less than inflation, quietly loses real value over time.
Is anything uploaded?
No. The calculation happens in your browser.