help - how do i find what the overall inflation rate was between 2000-2012

The_White_Horse

is there one figure.

thanks

System

http://www.rateinflation.com/inflation-rate/uk-historical-inflation-rate.php

the_flying_pig

see Detailed CPI and RPI Reference Tables (Excel sheet 1333Kb).

For RPI it says March 2012 239.9, March 2000 167.5. So that's an average rate of

(239.9/167.5)^(1/(2012-2000))-1

Which is about as close to bang on 3% as you can get.

Generali

This is what I use:

http://www.wolfbane.com/rpi.htm

To find the rate of inflation between 2 dates, z & y the calculation is:

((RPIy-RPIz)/RPIz) x 100

For example, the RPI in Jan 2000 was 166.6 and the RPI in Jan 2012 was 238.0. So:

((238-166.6)/166.6) x 100
= (71.4/166.6) x 100
= 43%

You can use any pair of dates in the table. There is no rule that states that you have to measure inflation over a specific period like a month, quarter or year; it's just conventional to do so.

If you want to go back prior to 1915 things get a lot harder if you want to be specific. A pretty good rule of thumb is that prices were on average static from 1670 - 1914. There were variations in that time however, the deflation of the 1870s and inflation in the 1840s for example.

Prior to 1670 there are numbers available but I reckon they're little more than guesswork. You can make a good case for wage inflation after plague periods (labour became scarce whereas the money supply remained static) but goods inflation is impossible to guess accurately IMHO.

The_White_Horse

cheers - 43% seems about right. 3% can't be right - unless you mean "per year"?

something that cost 100 in 2000 should be about 143 now. not 103.

thanks all. very helpful.

Generali

The_White_Horse wrote: »

cheers - 43% seems about right. 3% can't be right - unless you mean "per year"?

something that cost 100 in 2000 should be about 143 now. not 103.

thanks all. very helpful.

He means per year. 1.03^12 = 43