Table of Contents
| 1. | Inflation Data Graph |
| 2. | Average Inflation |
| 3. | Combating Inflation |
| 4. | Inflation Data Table |
| 5. | Sources |
For many purposes, it is good to know how inflation typically operates, especially when trying to project out what you should expect from future inflation on average. The following table shows how inflation in the United States has behaved on average across certain time periods.
| Time Period | Average Inflation Rate (CPI-U) |
|---|---|
| All (1920-2022) | 2.87% |
| Modern (1950-2022) | 3.53% |
| 21st Century (2000-2022) | 2.49% |
One of the best ways to combat inflation in your early retirement plan is to use the Inflation Buster strategy to make sure that your yearly budget is not only keeping up with inflation, but is actually beating it.
| Year | Inflation (CPI-U) |
|---|---|
| 1920 | 15.61% |
| 1921 | -10.50% |
| 1922 | -6.15% |
| 1923 | 1.79% |
| 1924 | 0.00% |
| 1925 | 2.34% |
| 1926 | 1.14% |
| 1927 | -1.69% |
| 1928 | -1.15% |
| 1929 | 0.00% |
| 1930 | -2.91% |
| 1931 | -8.98% |
| 1932 | -10.53% |
| 1933 | -5.15% |
| 1934 | 3.88% |
| 1935 | 2.24% |
| 1936 | 1.46% |
| 1937 | 3.60% |
| 1938 | -2.08% |
| 1939 | -1.42% |
| 1940 | 0.72% |
| 1941 | 5.00% |
| 1942 | 10.88% |
| 1943 | 6.13% |
| 1944 | 1.73% |
| 1945 | 2.27% |
| 1946 | 8.33% |
| 1947 | 14.36% |
| 1948 | 7.62% |
| 1949 | -0.83% |
| 1950 | 1.26% |
| 1951 | 7.88% |
| 1952 | 2.31% |
| 1953 | 0.75% |
| 1954 | 0.37% |
| 1955 | -0.37% |
| 1956 | 1.49% |
| 1957 | 3.31% |
| 1958 | 2.85% |
| 1959 | 1.04% |
| 1960 | 1.37% |
| 1961 | 1.01% |
| 1962 | 1.34% |
| 1963 | 0.99% |
| 1964 | 1.31% |
| 1965 | 1.61% |
| 1966 | 3.17% |
| 1967 | 2.77% |
| 1968 | 4.19% |
| 1969 | 5.46% |
| 1970 | 5.72% |
| 1971 | 4.38% |
| 1972 | 3.21% |
| 1973 | 6.22% |
| 1974 | 11.04% |
| 1975 | 9.13% |
| 1976 | 5.76% |
| 1977 | 6.50% |
| 1978 | 7.59% |
| 1979 | 11.35% |
| 1980 | 13.50% |
| 1981 | 10.32% |
| 1982 | 6.16% |
| 1983 | 3.21% |
| 1984 | 4.32% |
| 1985 | 3.56% |
| 1986 | 1.86% |
| 1987 | 3.65% |
| 1988 | 4.14% |
| 1989 | 4.82% |
| 1990 | 5.40% |
| 1991 | 4.21% |
| 1992 | 3.01% |
| 1993 | 2.99% |
| 1994 | 2.56% |
| 1995 | 2.83% |
| 1996 | 2.95% |
| 1997 | 2.29% |
| 1998 | 1.56% |
| 1999 | 2.21% |
| 2000 | 3.36% |
| 2001 | 2.85% |
| 2002 | 1.58% |
| 2003 | 2.28% |
| 2004 | 2.66% |
| 2005 | 3.39% |
| 2006 | 3.23% |
| 2007 | 2.83% |
| 2008 | 3.86% |
| 2009 | -0.37% |
| 2010 | 1.68% |
| 2011 | 3.12% |
| 2012 | 2.09% |
| 2013 | 1.48% |
| 2014 | 1.59% |
| 2015 | 0.13% |
| 2016 | 1.27% |
| 2017 | 2.13% |
| 2018 | 2.45% |
| 2019 | 1.83% |
| 2020 | 1.21% |
| 2021 | 4.71% |
| 2022 | 8.01% |
The above data is used in the Safe Withdrawal Rate Calculator to help people plan for their ideal retirement strategy.
The inflation data on this page is CPI-U (Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers) which is an inflation metric measured by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, a U.S. government agency, which calculates the average cost of goods in 20 large U.S. cities.