US Inflation Rate by Year: 1948–2026
The US inflation rate measures the year-over-year change in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), the headline gauge published monthly by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This page converts the monthly index into a clean annual series running from 1948 to 2026.
The annual average peaked at 13.50% in 1980 and fell to -0.98% in 1949. In 2026 the average is 3.07%, and the latest monthly print for September 2026 shows 4.02% year over year.
US inflation rate by year, 1948–2026
| Year | Annual average | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 (YTD) | 3.07% | +0.43 pp |
| 2025 | 2.63% | −0.32 pp |
| 2024 | 2.95% | −1.17 pp |
| 2023 | 4.13% | −3.86 pp |
| 2022 | 7.99% | +3.31 pp |
| 2021 | 4.68% | +3.43 pp |
| 2020 | 1.25% | −0.56 pp |
| 2019 | 1.81% | −0.63 pp |
| 2018 | 2.44% | +0.31 pp |
| 2017 | 2.13% | +0.86 pp |
| 2016 | 1.27% | +1.15 pp |
| 2015 | 0.12% | −1.49 pp |
| 2014 | 1.62% | +0.15 pp |
| 2013 | 1.47% | −0.61 pp |
| 2012 | 2.07% | −1.07 pp |
| 2011 | 3.14% | +1.50 pp |
| 2010 | 1.64% | +1.96 pp |
| 2009 | -0.32% | −4.14 pp |
| 2008 | 3.81% | +0.94 pp |
| 2007 | 2.87% | −0.35 pp |
| 2006 | 3.22% | −0.14 pp |
| 2005 | 3.37% | +0.70 pp |
| 2004 | 2.67% | +0.37 pp |
| 2003 | 2.30% | +0.70 pp |
| 2002 | 1.60% | −1.22 pp |
| 2001 | 2.82% | −0.55 pp |
| 2000 | 3.37% | +1.17 pp |
| 1999 | 2.19% | +0.65 pp |
| 1998 | 1.55% | −0.79 pp |
| 1997 | 2.34% | −0.60 pp |
| 1996 | 2.94% | +0.13 pp |
| 1995 | 2.81% | +0.21 pp |
| 1994 | 2.60% | −0.37 pp |
| 1993 | 2.97% | −0.07 pp |
| 1992 | 3.04% | −1.17 pp |
| 1991 | 4.22% | −1.20 pp |
| 1990 | 5.42% | +0.63 pp |
| 1989 | 4.79% | +0.69 pp |
| 1988 | 4.10% | +0.52 pp |
| 1987 | 3.58% | +1.63 pp |
| 1986 | 1.94% | −1.58 pp |
| 1985 | 3.53% | −0.84 pp |
| 1984 | 4.37% | +1.21 pp |
| 1983 | 3.16% | −3.00 pp |
| 1982 | 6.16% | −4.22 pp |
| 1981 | 10.38% | −3.12 pp |
| 1980 | 13.50% | +2.25 pp |
| 1979 | 11.25% | +3.62 pp |
| 1978 | 7.63% | +1.16 pp |
| 1977 | 6.47% | +0.69 pp |
| 1976 | 5.77% | −3.37 pp |
| 1975 | 9.14% | −1.87 pp |
| 1974 | 11.01% | +4.75 pp |
| 1973 | 6.26% | +2.99 pp |
| 1972 | 3.27% | −0.95 pp |
| 1971 | 4.23% | −1.66 pp |
| 1970 | 5.88% | +0.45 pp |
| 1969 | 5.44% | +1.19 pp |
| 1968 | 4.24% | +1.46 pp |
| 1967 | 2.78% | −0.20 pp |
| 1966 | 2.99% | +1.41 pp |
| 1965 | 1.58% | +0.26 pp |
| 1964 | 1.32% | +0.07 pp |
| 1963 | 1.26% | +0.08 pp |
| 1962 | 1.18% | +0.11 pp |
| 1961 | 1.07% | −0.42 pp |
| 1960 | 1.49% | +0.56 pp |
| 1959 | 0.93% | −1.80 pp |
| 1958 | 2.73% | −0.66 pp |
| 1957 | 3.39% | +1.92 pp |
| 1956 | 1.47% | +1.73 pp |
| 1955 | -0.26% | −0.62 pp |
| 1954 | 0.36% | −0.40 pp |
| 1953 | 0.76% | −1.53 pp |
| 1952 | 2.28% | −5.66 pp |
| 1951 | 7.94% | +6.88 pp |
| 1950 | 1.06% | +2.04 pp |
| 1949 | -0.98% | −8.65 pp |
| 1948 | 7.67% | — |
Reading the inflation record
The 2021–2022 surge was the sharpest in forty years. Inflation ran at 4.68% in 2021 and 7.99% in 2022, driven by pandemic-era supply constraints, energy prices and demand supported by fiscal transfers. The 2023–2025 disinflation brought the annual rate back toward 2.63%.
Sticky services, cooling goods. The gap between headline CPI and core measures has been the key signal for policy since 2023. Goods inflation normalised quickly as supply chains healed; shelter and services took far longer, which is why the Federal Reserve kept policy restrictive even as headline prints fell.
Why CPI and PCE diverge. The Fed targets the Personal Consumption Expenditures price index, not CPI. CPI gives shelter a much larger weight, so in periods when housing costs run hot, CPI tends to print higher than PCE — a gap of several tenths of a percentage point is normal, not an error in either series.
Frequently asked questions
What is the US inflation rate right now?
The latest year-over-year change in the CPI-U was 4.02% for September 2026. The 2026 annual average is 3.07%.
When was US inflation at its highest?
On this annual series the peak is 13.50% in 1980. The monthly series recorded a higher peak within that period.
What is a normal inflation rate?
The Federal Reserve targets 2% on the PCE measure. Between 1990 and 2020 the CPI annual average stayed between roughly 1.3% and 4.0%, which is the range most policymakers treat as normal.
Source and method
All figures on this page are computed at build time from the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers: All Items series (FRED identifier CPIAUCSL) published by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics and distributed by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Annual figures are averages of the underlying observations; growth and inflation rates are year-over-year changes of those annual averages. Where a year is incomplete the figure is labelled YTD.
Data retrieved 2026-10-30. Raw series: FRED — Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers: All Items. Chart and table code licensed CC BY 4.0 — reuse freely with attribution to CapitalWire.
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