Currency Converter
Convert between major currencies using official European Central Bank daily rates.
Inflation / Purchasing Power Calculator
Calculate the real value of money over time — see how inflation erodes purchasing power.
Select a country and reference year, then click Calculate to see how inflation has affected your purchasing power.
How it works?
This calculator uses Eurostat HICP (Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices) data to measure how the purchasing power of money has changed over time. HICP is the official inflation measure used across the European Union, based on a representative basket of goods and services.
Select a reference year — for example the year you started a job or negotiated a salary. Enter your monthly earnings from that year. The calculator retrieves the HICP index for your chosen country, computes the annual average for the reference year, and compares it to the most recent monthly index — giving you the cumulative price increase as a percentage.
The extra monthly cost is how much more you would need to earn today to buy the same basket of goods as in your reference year. Optionally, enter monthly budgets for food, housing, transport, or recreation to see a breakdown by spending category, using the corresponding Eurostat HICP sub-indices.
Frequently asked questions
What is HICP and how is it measured?
HICP stands for Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices. It is the official EU-wide inflation indicator compiled by Eurostat, based on a basket of goods and services representative of what households buy. The same methodology is applied across all EU member states, making it suitable for cross-country comparisons. The index is published monthly and covers categories including food, housing, transport, healthcare, and recreation.
Why does the reference year matter?
Inflation is always measured relative to a starting point. If you earned a given salary in 2015, you need to compare the 2015 price level to today's to know how much more you would need to maintain the same standard of living. Different reference years give different cumulative results — a period with high inflation (like 2021–2023 in Europe) adds significantly more to the total than a low-inflation period.
Are the category breakdowns accurate?
The category breakdowns use official Eurostat HICP sub-indices: food and non-alcoholic beverages (CP01), housing, water, electricity and gas (CP04), transport (CP07), and recreation and culture (CP09). These reflect the average price changes in those spending categories for the selected country. Your personal spending basket may differ from the statistical average used to construct the index.
Why do different countries show different inflation?
Inflation rates vary by country due to differences in energy import dependence, wage growth dynamics, housing markets, and the composition of the consumer basket. The Baltic states (EE, LV, LT) experienced some of the highest inflation in Europe during 2021–2023, driven largely by energy and food prices. Western European countries generally showed lower but still significant cumulative increases.
How often is the data updated?
Eurostat publishes HICP estimates in the final days of each month for the preceding month. This calculator caches data for 7 days to reduce API load. The 'data up to' date shown with your results indicates the most recent month included in the calculation. There may be a short lag of up to one week between Eurostat publishing new data and the cache refreshing.