$1 in 2013 is equivalent in purchasing power to about $1.21 today, an increase of $0.21 over 9 years. The dollar had an average inflation rate of 2.11% per year between 2013 and today, producing a cumulative price increase of % .
This means that today’s prices are 1.21 times higher than average prices since 2013, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics consumer price index. A dollar today only buys % of what it could buy back then.
The inflation rate in 2013 was 1.46% . The current inflation rate compared to last year is now 7.48% . If this number holds, $1 today will be equivalent in buying power to $1.07 next year. The current inflation rate page gives more detail on the latest inflation rates.
Alternate Measurements of Inflation
The above data describe the CPI for all items. Also of note is the Core CPI, which measures inflation https://yourloansllc.com/installment-loans-ut/ for all items except for the more volatile categories of food and energy. Core inflation averaged 2.26% per year between 2013 and 2022 (vs all-CPI inflation of 2.11%), for an inflation total of %.
When using the core inflation measurement, $1 in 2013 is equivalent in buying power to $1.22 in 2022, a difference of $0.22. Recall that for All Items, the converted amount is $1.21 with a difference of $0.21.
Chained CPI is an alternative measurement that takes into account how consumers adjust spending for similar items. Chained inflation averaged 1.85% per year between 2013 and 2022, a total inflation amount of %.
According to the Chained CPI measurement, $1 in 2013 is equal in buying power to $1.18 in 2022, a difference of $0.18 (versus a converted amount of $1.21/change of $0.21 for All Items).
Comparison to SP 500 Index
The average inflation rate of 2.11% has a compounding effect between 2013 and 2022. As noted above, this yearly inflation rate compounds to produce an overall price difference of % over 9 years.
To help put this inflation into perspective, if we had invested $1 in the SP 500 index in 2013, our investment would be nominally worth approximately $3.67 in 2022. This is a return on investment of %, with an absolute return of $2.67 on top of the original $1.
These numbers are not inflation adjusted, so they are considered nominal. In order to evaluate the real return on our investment, we must calculate the return with inflation taken into account.
The compounding effect of inflation would account for % of returns ($0.63) during this period. This means the inflation-adjusted real return of our $1 investment is $2.04 . You may also want to account for capital gains tax, which would take your real return down to around $2 for most people.
Information displayed above may differ slightly from other SP 500 calculators. Minor discrepancies can occur because we use the latest CPI data for inflation, annualized inflation numbers for previous years, and we compute SP price and dividends from using average monthly close price.
Data source citation
Raw data for these calculations comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics ‘ Consumer Price Index (CPI), established in 1913. Inflation data from 1665 to 1912 is sourced from a historical study conducted by political science professor Robert Sahr at Oregon State University.
You may use the following MLA citation for this page: “$1 in 2013 > 2022 | Inflation Calculator.” Official Inflation Data, Alioth Finance, ?amount=1.
About the author
Ian Webster is an engineer and data expert based in San Mateo, California. He has worked for Google, NASA, and consulted for governments around the world on data pipelines and data analysis. Disappointed by the lack of clear resources on the impacts of inflation on economic indicators, Ian believes this website serves as a valuable public tool. Ian earned his degree in Computer Science from Dartmouth College.