Free inflation calculator. See future prices, how much purchasing power your money will lose over time, and what today's amount was worth years ago.
An inflation calculator projects how a constant annual inflation rate changes the value of money over time: Future Cost = Amount x (1 + Rate / 100)^Years, and Purchasing Power = Amount / (1 + Rate / 100)^Years. At 3% annual inflation, goods that cost β¬1,000 today will cost β¬1,343.92 in 10 years β and β¬1,000 kept in cash will only buy what β¬744.09 buys today.
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Inflation Calculator
An inflation calculator answers two questions that every saver eventually asks: what will the things I buy today cost in the future, and what will my money actually be worth by then? Both answers come from the same compounding formula. If prices rise at a constant annual rate, the future cost of the same basket of goods is the amount multiplied by (1 + rate)^years, while the purchasing power of money kept in cash is the amount divided by that same factor.
The worked example makes it concrete: at 3% annual inflation, goods that cost β¬1,000 today will cost β¬1,343.92 in 10 years. Flip the perspective and the same math says that β¬1,000 kept under the mattress for those 10 years will only buy what β¬744.09 buys today β a loss of roughly a quarter of its purchasing power, without a single euro physically disappearing.
Using the inflation calculator takes seconds: enter an amount, an expected annual inflation rate (3% is the default, close to the long-run average in many developed economies), and a number of years between 1 and 50. The results update instantly, and the chart traces how purchasing power melts away year by year β a curve that is far more persuasive than any single number.
Compounding
The intuition trap: 3% inflation for 10 years sounds like a 30% price increase. It is not. Because each year's increase applies to prices that already include all previous increases, the true rise is 1.03^10 - 1 = 34.4%. Over 20 years the gap widens dramatically: prices rise 80.6%, not 60%, and β¬1,000 in cash shrinks to β¬553.68 of today's purchasing power.
This is exactly compound interest working against you. The same exponential curve that makes long-term investing so powerful makes long-term cash holding so costly. A useful shortcut is the rule of 72: divide 72 by the inflation rate to estimate how many years it takes for prices to double. At 3%, prices double roughly every 24 years β meaning money loses half its purchasing power in about a generation.
Real vs Nominal
A savings account paying 2% interest during a year of 3% inflation is not preserving your money β it is losing about 1% of purchasing power per year. The nominal return (the advertised percentage) tells you how many euros you will have; the real return (nominal return minus inflation) tells you what those euros will buy. Every long-term financial decision β pensions, savings goals, salary negotiations β should be made in real terms.
The same logic applies to income. A salary that stays flat for five years of 3% inflation has quietly taken a 13.7% pay cut in real terms. Running your salary through an inflation calculator shows the raise you need just to stand still β a far stronger negotiating position than a round-number request.
Investors face the same test. A bond yielding 3% in a 3% inflation environment merely treads water; a stock portfolio returning 7% delivers roughly 4% of real growth. When you compare investment options, subtract your expected inflation rate from every advertised return first β it is the only way to compare what each option will actually let you buy at the end.
Looking Back
The reverse calculation is just as useful as the forward one. Given today's amount and an average annual inflation rate, dividing by (1 + rate)^years shows what sum of money in the past had the same purchasing power. At 3% average inflation, β¬1,000 today corresponds to about β¬744 ten years ago and β¬554 twenty years ago.
This is the honest way to compare prices, salaries, and property values across decades. A price from 2005 quoted next to a price from today is comparing different units β euros of very different purchasing power. Converting both into today's money is the only way to see whether something has genuinely become more expensive or merely looks that way because all prices have risen.
Keep in mind that the calculator assumes a constant average rate, while real inflation varies from year to year and differs between categories β housing, energy, and services rarely move in lockstep with the headline index. For rough planning a constant average is perfectly adequate; for precise historical conversions, use the official consumer price index series published by Eurostat or your national statistics office.
Related Calculators
Inflation is one half of the long-term money equation β growth is the other. Use the compound interest calculator to see how invested money grows over the same horizon, the savings calculator to plan regular contributions, and the percentage calculator for quick rate-of-change checks.
Practical Use Cases
Retirement planning
Estimating how much today's monthly budget will cost in 20 or 30 years, so your pension target is set in future prices rather than today's.
Salary negotiations
Working out the raise needed just to keep pace with inflation, and how much real purchasing power a flat salary has lost.
Long-term savings decisions
Comparing the real, inflation-adjusted return of a savings account or deposit against simply holding cash.
Comparing prices across years
Converting a historical price, salary, or property value into today's money for an honest like-for-like comparison.
Setting investment targets
Checking whether an expected investment return actually beats inflation, and by how much in real terms.
Inflation compounds just like interest: each year's price increase applies to prices that already include every previous increase. At 3% annual inflation, prices rise by a factor of 1.03 each year, so after 10 years they are 1.03^10 = 1.34 times higher β a 34.4% total increase, not 30%. The longer the period, the bigger the gap between the simple sum and the true compounded effect.
Most major central banks, including the European Central Bank, aim for about 2% annual inflation. A small positive rate leaves room to cut interest rates in a downturn, makes it easier for wages and prices to adjust, and keeps a safety margin against deflation β a general fall in prices that encourages people to delay spending and can trap an economy in a downward spiral.
Nominal value is the face amount of money β β¬1,000 stays β¬1,000 on paper. Real value is what that money actually buys after adjusting for inflation. If prices rise 3% per year, β¬1,000 kept in cash for 10 years still shows β¬1,000 nominally, but its real value is only β¬744.09 in today's money. Real values are what matter for savings, salaries, and investment returns.
At a constant 3% annual inflation rate, β¬1,000 will lose about 25.6% of its purchasing power over 10 years. Goods that cost β¬1,000 today will cost β¬1,343.92, and your β¬1,000 will only buy what β¬744.09 buys today. Over 20 years at the same rate the loss grows to about 44.6%.
For long-term planning in the euro area, the ECB's 2% target is a reasonable baseline, while 3% adds a margin of safety. For short-term estimates, use the most recent annual rate published by your national statistics office or Eurostat. You can also run the calculation with a low and a high rate to see a realistic range rather than a single number.
Yes β a general fall in prices is called deflation. During deflation the purchasing power of money increases: the same amount buys more goods over time. While that sounds attractive, sustained deflation is usually a sign of economic trouble, because falling prices encourage consumers to postpone purchases and make existing debts harder to repay.