U.S. Inflation Rate Year by Year: CPI Data From 2000 to 2026
The U.S. inflation rate year by year, measured by the annual average of the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), was 2.6% in 2025. That followed 2.9% in 2024 and 4.1% in 2023, and it sits well below the 8.0% annual average recorded in 2022.
A final figure for 2026 does not exist yet, because the year is still in progress. The latest official reading at the time of writing covers September 2026, when the CPI-U stood 3.7% higher than a year earlier, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That 12-month change describes one month against the same month a year before. It is not a full-year 2026 inflation rate, and the two measures should not be swapped.
Key Takeaways
- The annual-average U.S. inflation rate was 2.6% in 2025, down from 2.9% in 2024.
- Inflation averaged 8.0% in 2022, the highest annual-average CPI-U rate since 1981.
- Annual-average inflation slowed to 4.1% in 2023 after the 2022 peak.
- The September 2026 CPI-U was 3.7% above September 2025, driven largely by energy prices.
- A 12-month inflation rate and an annual-average inflation rate measure different periods.
- The annual average is the mean of the monthly index values for the year.
- October 2025 CPI data were not collected, so the 2025 average rests on 11 monthly values.
- The 2009 annual average showed slight deflation at -0.4%.
- Lower inflation means prices rose more slowly, not that they fell back.
U.S. Inflation Rate by Year, 2000 to 2025
The table below lists the inflation rate year by year as the percent change in the annual-average CPI-U, the measure BLS publishes in its historical CPI tables. Each figure compares the average price level across a full calendar year with the average across the year before.
| Year | Annual-Average CPI-U Inflation |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 3.4% |
| 2001 | 2.8% |
| 2002 | 1.6% |
| 2003 | 2.3% |
| 2004 | 2.7% |
| 2005 | 3.4% |
| 2006 | 3.2% |
| 2007 | 2.8% |
| 2008 | 3.8% |
| 2009 | -0.4% |
| 2010 | 1.6% |
| 2011 | 3.2% |
| 2012 | 2.1% |
| 2013 | 1.5% |
| 2014 | 1.6% |
| 2015 | 0.1% |
| 2016 | 1.3% |
| 2017 | 2.1% |
| 2018 | 2.4% |
| 2019 | 1.8% |
| 2020 | 1.2% |
| 2021 | 4.7% |
| 2022 | 8.0% |
| 2023 | 4.1% |
| 2024 | 2.9% |
| 2025 | 2.6% |
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, CPI-U, U.S. city average, all items. Fin Loom recomputed each year from the monthly index values in the FRED series for the CPI-U, checked October 26, 2026. Two years sit on a rounding edge: computed from unrounded averages, 2007 comes to about 2.85% and 1974 to about 11.05%. The table keeps the 2.8% and 11.0% figures that BLS publishes.
Why 2025 Rests on 11 Months
BLS did not collect CPI data for October 2025 during the 2025 lapse in federal appropriations, so no October 2025 index exists. The 2025 annual average of 321.943 is therefore the mean of 11 monthly values rather than 12. The resulting 2.6% figure matches the BLS annual summary, but readers comparing 2025 with other years should keep the missing month in mind.
What the Table Does Not Show
The table tracks the national average for urban consumers. It does not show regional differences, the experience of a single household, or price changes inside a single year. A year with a 2% average can still include months of faster and slower price growth, and an individual household's spending mix can produce a different personal inflation rate from the national figure.
What Is the Inflation Rate in 2026?
No annual-average rate for 2026 can be calculated until BLS publishes all of the year's monthly index values. What is available now is a series of 12-month readings, each comparing one month of 2026 with the same month of 2025.
| Month (2026) | CPI-U Index | 12-Month Change |
|---|---|---|
| January | 325.252 | 2.4% |
| February | 326.785 | 2.4% |
| March | 330.213 | 3.3% |
| April | 333.020 | 3.8% |
| May | 335.123 | 4.2% |
| June | 333.952 | 3.5% |
| July | 333.918 | 3.4% |
| August | 334.980 | 3.4% |
| September | 336.940 | 3.7% |
These 12-month changes are Fin Loom calculations from the not seasonally adjusted CPI-U index on FRED. They rose from 2.4% early in the year to a 2026 high of 4.2% in May, then eased before climbing again to 3.7% in September. The next release, covering October 2026, is scheduled for November 10, 2026, at 8:30 a.m. Eastern time.
What Drove the September 2026 Reading
The BLS September 2026 CPI release reported that all-items CPI rose 0.6% in the month on a seasonally adjusted basis. Gasoline rose 9.1% in September and accounted for over half of the monthly all-items increase. Over 12 months, energy prices were 20.4% higher, food was 2.5% higher, and shelter was 3.2% higher.
Core Inflation Told a Calmer Story
Core CPI, which excludes food and energy, was 2.6% higher than a year earlier in September 2026. That is well below the 3.7% headline figure. The gap shows how much of the 2026 increase came from energy, a category that can swing quickly in either direction and pull the headline rate with it.
Annual-Average Inflation vs 12-Month Inflation
Two different calculations are often reported as "the inflation rate," and they answer different questions. Mixing them is one of the most common errors in news coverage of prices.
- Annual-Average Inflation: Compares the average CPI level across all months of one year with the average across all months of the prior year.
- 12-Month Inflation: Compares the CPI in one month with the CPI in the same month a year earlier.
- December-to-December Inflation: Compares the December index with the previous December, which is a 12-month change at year end.
The three can give different answers for the same year. For 2025, the annual-average change was 2.6%, while the December 2025 index of 324.054 was 2.7% above the December 2024 index of 315.605, a Fin Loom calculation. Both figures are correct, because they measure different spans of time.
How BLS Calculates Annual-Average Inflation
The method is simple once each step is clear. BLS first publishes a CPI index value for each month. The annual average is the sum of the monthly values divided by the number of months, and the inflation rate is the percent change between two annual averages.
Annual Average CPI = Sum of Monthly CPI Values ÷ Number of Months
Annual-Average Inflation = (Current Annual Average − Prior Annual Average) ÷ Prior Annual Average × 100
Applying the formula to 2024 and 2025 gives (321.943 − 313.689) ÷ 313.689 × 100, or about 2.6%. The same steps produce every figure in the inflation rate year by year table above.
Why Index Levels Help
Index levels let readers measure change over any span, not only a single year. The annual-average CPI-U was 172.2 in 2000 and 321.943 in 2025, which means the average price level rose by about 87% across those 25 years, a Fin Loom calculation. Put another way, a basket that cost $100 in 2000 cost roughly $187 in 2025.
Why Single-Year Rates Can Mislead
Single-year rates hide how changes stack. Between the 2020 and 2025 annual averages, the CPI-U rose about 24.4%, even though no single year in that span exceeded 8.0%. Several years of above-target inflation compound into a much larger change in the price level than any one annual figure suggests.
The 2021 and 2022 Inflation Surge
Annual-average inflation rose from 1.2% in 2020 to 4.7% in 2021 and 8.0% in 2022. On a 12-month basis, the CPI-U peaked at 9.1% in June 2022. That monthly peak should not be confused with the 8.0% full-year average, since they describe different periods.
Several forces overlapped in those years, including supply-chain disruptions, shifts in consumer demand, energy and commodity price shocks, and higher housing and vehicle prices. Their relative weight is still debated, and no single cause explains the whole episode.
How 2022 Compares With Earlier Peaks
The 8.0% annual average in 2022 was the highest since 1981, when it was 10.3%. It remained below the earlier peaks of 11.0% in 1974, 11.3% in 1979, and 13.5% in 1980. Those 1970s and early 1980s readings remain the reference point for most comparisons of modern inflation.
Inflation Slowed After 2022
Annual-average inflation fell to 4.1% in 2023, 2.9% in 2024, and 2.6% in 2025. Slower inflation means prices kept rising at a lower pace. The price level stayed far above its 2020 level, because the earlier increases were not reversed, and that difference explains why many households still felt high prices.
Inflation by Period Since 2000
Grouping the inflation rate year by year into longer periods shows how the pace of price increases has shifted. The figures below are Fin Loom calculations from the annual-average CPI-U, using the compound annual rate between the starting and ending averages for each period.
| Period | Average Annual Inflation | Cumulative Rise in the Price Level |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 to 2009 | 2.6% | 28.8% |
| 2010 to 2019 | 1.8% | 19.2% |
| 2020 to 2025 | 3.9% | 25.9% |
The 2010s were the calmest stretch, with no year above 3.2% and one year as low as 0.1%. The 2020 to 2025 period covers only six years, yet its cumulative rise in prices came close to the full 2000s decade. That compression is the main reason recent inflation has felt so much heavier to households than the single-year figures alone suggest.
Reading Period Averages
A period average smooths out the year-to-year swings, which makes it useful for long-range comparisons and less useful for describing any one year. The 2000s average of 2.6%, for example, includes both the 3.8% reading of 2008 and the -0.4% reading of 2009. Readers should check the individual years before drawing conclusions about a particular point in time.
Why the Period Lengths Differ
The first two periods each cover ten years, while the third covers six, because 2025 is the latest complete year. Comparing cumulative rises across unequal periods can mislead, so the average annual rate column is the fairer like-for-like measure. Once 2026 data are complete, the third period will extend by one more year.
Deflation and Near-Zero Years
The inflation rate year by year table includes two unusual readings. In 2009 the annual average was -0.4%, a rare year of deflation that followed the financial crisis and the recession that came with it. The average price level in 2009 was slightly lower than in 2008.
In 2015 the annual average was 0.1%, close to zero. Falling energy prices pulled the headline rate down that year, which shows how a single volatile category can move the overall number even when the broader economy is not in recession.
Why Energy Can Move Headline Inflation So Quickly
Energy carries a smaller weight in the CPI than shelter, but its prices can change far faster. A sharp move in gasoline, natural gas, or electricity can shift the headline rate within a month, as the September 2026 release showed when gasoline drove over half of the monthly increase.
That volatility is one reason analysts track core CPI alongside the headline figure. Core CPI does not imply that food and energy are unimportant to households. It removes two fast-moving categories so the underlying trend is easier to see.
Which Inflation Measure Is Being Used?
The CPI is not the only gauge of U.S. inflation, and different measures serve different purposes. Knowing which one a figure comes from avoids false comparisons between numbers that were never meant to match.
CPI-U and CPI-W
The CPI-U covers urban consumers, who make up the large majority of the U.S. population, and it is the measure used throughout this page. BLS also publishes the CPI-W, which covers urban wage earners and clerical workers. The Social Security cost-of-living adjustment is tied to the CPI-W under its statutory formula, not to the CPI-U.
CPI and PCE
The Federal Reserve's longer-run inflation goal is 2% as measured by the annual change in the price index for personal consumption expenditures (PCE), not the CPI. The PCE index has broader coverage and different category weights, so its readings usually differ somewhat from CPI readings for the same period.
What the Inflation Rate Year by Year Means for Savings
Inflation erodes the purchasing power of cash over time. When the inflation rate year by year runs above the interest a savings balance earns, the balance buys less each year even as its dollar value grows. A savings account's annual yield, explained in APY meaning, is easier to judge once it is set beside the inflation rate for the same period.
As an illustration, $10,000 earning 3.0% for one year would hold about $10,300. If prices rose 3.7% over the same year, that $10,300 would buy roughly what $9,932 bought a year earlier, a Fin Loom calculation. The dollar balance grew, but its purchasing power fell slightly.
Running the Numbers
A savings interest calculator shows how a balance grows at a chosen APY, and comparing that growth with recent inflation figures shows whether the balance is keeping pace. The result is an estimate, because both the APY on a variable-rate account and future inflation can change.
Short-Term and Long-Term Money
Inflation affects money differently depending on when it will be spent. Cash needed within months has little time for inflation to erode it, while money set aside for decades faces many years of compounding price increases. The tradeoffs between those time horizons are covered in saving vs investing.
Why Historical Inflation Data Help
Historical figures put a current reading in context. A 3% rate can feel high next to the 1% to 2% readings common in the 2010s, yet modest next to 2022 or 1980. Context also helps readers judge headlines that compare a single month with a historical annual average.
Inflation data feed into many other numbers, including wage negotiations, Social Security adjustments, interest rates, bond returns, and business pricing. Knowing how the inflation rate year by year is calculated makes it easier to read each of those figures correctly.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Was the U.S. Inflation Rate in 2025?
The annual-average CPI-U inflation rate was 2.6% in 2025, based on Bureau of Labor Statistics data, with October 2025 missing because data were not collected.
What Is the U.S. Inflation Rate in 2026?
No full-year 2026 rate exists yet. The latest 12-month reading was 3.7% in September 2026, compared with September 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
What Was the Highest U.S. Inflation Rate in Recent Decades?
Annual-average CPI-U inflation reached 13.5% in 1980. The highest reading since then was 8.0% in 2022, while the 12-month rate peaked at 9.1% in June 2022.
Was There Deflation in 2009?
Yes. Annual-average CPI-U inflation was -0.4% in 2009, meaning the average consumer price level that year was slightly lower than the average level in 2008.
Why Does Annual Inflation Differ From the Latest CPI Rate?
Annual-average inflation compares full-year average price levels, while the latest 12-month rate compares a single month with the same month one year earlier, covering different periods.