See how inflation erodes money over time. This free inflation calculator shows the future cost of an amount, its purchasing power in today’s terms, and cumulative inflation over any period.
Results update automatically as you type. Assumes a constant annual inflation rate.
How Inflation Calculator Works
Money loses buying power over time as prices rise. This free inflation calculator projects what a fixed amount will cost in the future, and shows how much purchasing power that same amount loses under a constant annual inflation rate.
Formula: Future Cost = Amount × (1 + Rate ÷ 100)^Years. Purchasing Power (what that future cost is worth in today’s terms) = Amount ÷ (1 + Rate ÷ 100)^Years. Cumulative Inflation = [(1 + Rate ÷ 100)^Years − 1] × 100.
- Amount today — the starting dollar amount you want to project forward
- Annual inflation — the constant yearly inflation rate assumed for the projection
- Years — the number of years to project forward
Example Scenarios
| Amount Today | Annual Inflation | Years | Future Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| $1,000 | 3% | 10 | $1,344 |
| $1,000 | 5% | 5 | $1,276 |
| $5,000 | 2% | 20 | $7,430 |
| $2,000 | 4% | 10 | $2,960 |
| $10,000 | 3% | 30 | $24,273 |
Inflation Calculator FAQ
What inflation rate should I use for my projection?
There’s no single correct rate since inflation varies by year, country, and even by category of spending. A common approach is to use a long-run historical average as a rough guide, or run a couple of scenarios at different rates to see a plausible range.What’s the difference between “future cost” and “purchasing power” in the results?
Future cost tells you what today’s amount will cost to buy later, after prices rise. Purchasing power (or “today’s value later”) flips that around — it tells you what your current amount will actually be worth, in today’s terms, by that future date.Does this calculator account for changing inflation rates over time?
No, it assumes one constant annual rate applied every year of the period you enter. Real-world inflation fluctuates year to year, so treat the result as a simplified projection rather than a precise forecast.How is cumulative inflation different from the annual rate?
The annual rate is the yearly increase, while cumulative inflation is the total compounded increase over the whole period — since inflation compounds, cumulative inflation over many years is always larger than the annual rate multiplied by the number of years.Can I use this to estimate how much I need to save to keep pace with inflation?
Yes — enter a future goal amount and the expected inflation rate to see what it would cost then, which gives you a target to plan savings or investment growth against so your money doesn’t lose ground.Why does a small change in the inflation rate make such a big difference over many years?
Because inflation compounds year over year, even a modest difference in the annual rate, like 2% versus 4%, produces a much larger gap in the final future cost the longer the time period stretches.Related Calculators
To see how growth can offset inflation’s bite, try the compound interest calculator or the investment calculator, and use the CAGR calculator to measure how an investment’s annual growth rate compares to what you assumed here.