Prices Then & Now
What was $100 in 1985 worth in today’s money? What would a guilder or a Deutsche Mark from your parents’ time be in euros now? Uses the official consumer price index of 46 countries — the United States since 1913, the Netherlands since 1900, most others since the 1950s — with the newest month added automatically.
The Consumer Price Index
Statistics offices follow the prices of a fixed basket of what households buy — food, rent, energy, clothes, transport — every month. The consumer price index (CPI) says how much that basket costs compared with a base year. If the index doubles, you need twice as much money for the same basket.
Comparing two years is then one division. The basket itself changes over time (nobody bought a phone subscription in 1950), so over long periods the answer says what amount buys a similar standard of living, not exactly the same things. Year values are yearly averages; “now” is the newest month published.
From Then to Now, Step by Step
CPIKey Relations
The index base (1982–84 = 100 in the US, 1900 = 100 here for the Netherlands, 2015 = 100 for the other countries) cancels in the ratio.
The constant rate that gives the same total rise over t years: the geometric mean, not the plain average of the yearly rates.
Amounts from before a currency change are in the old money: guilders (ƒ2.20371 = €1), Deutsche Mark (1.95583), French francs (6.55957), lire (1,936.27) and the other currencies the euro replaced, or the old Turkish lira (1,000,000 = ₺1). The calculator first applies the price rise, then converts at the fixed official rate.
Sources & Verification
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), U.S. city average, all items, series CUUR0000SA0, 1982–84 = 100, retrieved through the BLS public API (built-in table 11 November 2026, newer months daily) — yearly values are the mean of the monthly indexes; October 2025 was not published (federal government shutdown), so 2025 is the mean of 11 months.
- CBS (Statistics Netherlands), StatLine Consumentenprijzen; prijsindex 1900=100 (table 71905ned) and the current monthly CPI table — months linked to the 1900 = 100 series through the yearly average.
- OECD Data Explorer, Consumer price indices (CPIs, HICPs), COICOP 2018 and COICOP 1999 datasets, national CPI, all items, 2015 = 100 — the other 44 countries; per country the series with the newest data. Where the national series stopped (Austria, Poland, Slovakia: December 2025), the EU harmonised index (HICP) continues it, linked through the 2025 yearly average.
- Council Regulation (EC) No 2866/98 and later amendments — the fixed euro conversion rates (€1 = ƒ2.20371, DM 1.95583, …); national laws for the other currency reforms (France 1960, Iceland 1981, Mexico 1993, Poland 1995, Turkey 2005; pounds to dollars or rand in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa: 2 for 1).
The US figures were retrieved from the BLS public API on 11 November 2026. BLS.gov cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from BLS.gov.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much is $100 from 1985 worth today?
About $314 in October 2026. The US consumer price index (CPI-U) was 107.6 on average in 1985 and 337.5 in October 2026, so prices are 3.14 times as high: $100 × 337.5 ÷ 107.6 ≈ $313.77. That is an average inflation of about 2.8% a year.
How do I calculate what money from the past is worth now?
Multiply by the ratio of the consumer price index now and then: value now = amount × CPI(now) ÷ CPI(then). The index measures the price of a fixed basket of everyday goods and services, so the result is the amount that buys a similar basket today.
What is a guilder from 1980 worth in euros today?
About €1.41. Dutch prices rose by a factor of about 3.1 between 1980 and October 2026 (CBS consumer price index), so ƒ1 then is ƒ3.10 at today's prices; divided by the fixed rate of 2.20371 guilders per euro that is €1.41. ƒ100 from 1980 is about €140.
Where do the inflation figures come from?
From the official statistics offices: the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (consumer price index for all urban consumers, since 1913), CBS, Statistics Netherlands (consumer price index since 1900) and, for the other 44 countries, the national consumer price indices as collected by the OECD (most since the 1950s). The newest month is added automatically, usually within a day or two of publication.
Which countries can I calculate?
46: the United States, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, Switzerland, the Nordic countries, almost all euro countries, Central Europe, Turkey, Israel, Mexico, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia and South Africa. Old currencies such as the guilder, the Deutsche Mark, the franc or the old Turkish lira are converted at their fixed official rates.
How much is £100 from 1970 worth today?
About £1,712 in September 2026. UK consumer prices rose about 17-fold since 1970 (from 8.41 to 144 on the 2015 = 100 index), an average inflation of about 5.2% a year.
What is a Deutsche Mark from 1990 worth in euros today?
DM 1,000 from 1990 is worth about €1,084 in September 2026. German prices rose by a factor of 2.12, so DM 1,000 then is DM 2,120.50 at today's prices; divided by the fixed rate of 1.95583 Deutsche Mark per euro that is €1,084.19.
Did prices ever go down?
Yes. In the Great Depression US prices fell by about 25% between 1929 and 1933, so $100 of 1929 bought what $75 bought in 1933. Short dips happened later too, for example in 2009 after the financial crisis. Falling prices are called deflation.
Why is the US value for 2025 based on 11 months?
The Bureau of Labor Statistics did not publish a consumer price index for October 2025 because of the federal government shutdown. The 2025 yearly value here is the average of the other 11 months; the effect on the result is very small.