Prices rise almost everywhere, but the speed varies enormously. Using the World Bank's consumer price index, we compared what a basket of goods cost in 2000 with what it cost in 2024 across 158 economies. In Japan it cost 11% more. In Angola it cost 355 times as much.
The short version
- The typical (median) economy saw prices rise by 143% over the 24 years, about 3.8% a year.
- In 96 of 158 economies prices at least doubled. In 15 they rose more than tenfold.
- Among ten of the world's largest economies, prices roughly quadrupled in Brazil and India (4.2x), rose 69% to 82% in the United States, United Kingdom and Canada, and rose 11% in Japan.
- Across all 158 economies, the five with the biggest rises are Angola, Iran, Turkiye, Suriname and Belarus.
The 10 biggest losers
| Country | Prices in 2024 vs 2000 | Average yearly rise | Purchasing power lost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Angola | 354.9x | 27.7% | 99.7% |
| Iran | 110.7x | 21.7% | 99.1% |
| Turkiye | 64.2x | 18.9% | 98.4% |
| Suriname | 58.7x | 18.5% | 98.3% |
| Belarus | 46.8x | 17.4% | 97.9% |
| Ghana | 39.0x | 16.5% | 97.4% |
| Malawi | 31.6x | 15.5% | 96.8% |
| Ethiopia | 27.6x | 14.8% | 96.4% |
| Nigeria | 23.6x | 14.1% | 95.8% |
| Haiti | 22.0x | 13.8% | 95.5% |
Ten of the largest economies
| Country | Prices in 2024 vs 2000 | Average yearly rise | Rank (of 158) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brazil | 4.2x | 6.2% | 41 |
| India | 4.2x | 6.1% | 42 |
| United States | 1.8x | 2.5% | 108 |
| United Kingdom | 1.8x | 2.5% | 109 |
| Canada | 1.7x | 2.2% | 123 |
| China | 1.6x | 2.1% | 134 |
| Italy | 1.6x | 2.0% | 139 |
| Germany | 1.6x | 1.9% | 143 |
| France | 1.5x | 1.7% | 153 |
| Japan | 1.11x | 0.5% | 158 |
Where you live shapes the odds
Median yearly inflation by World Bank region, 2000 to 2024:
| Region | Economies | Median yearly rise |
|---|---|---|
| South Asia | 6 | 6.3% |
| Sub-Saharan Africa | 36 | 4.8% |
| Latin America and Caribbean | 29 | 4.6% |
| Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan and Pakistan | 18 | 3.1% |
| Europe and Central Asia | 44 | 3.1% |
| East Asia and Pacific | 23 | 3.0% |
| North America | 2 | 2.4% |
A saver in Sub-Saharan Africa faced about one and a half times the yearly erosion of one in Europe and Central Asia. Holding cash for two decades was a steady drag in Germany and close to a wipe-out in Angola or Iran.
What this does and does not show
- Prices, not wages. High inflation hurts most when incomes do not keep up. This analysis does not measure incomes.
- Averages hide baskets. The index covers a typical consumer basket. Food, rent or fuel for you may have moved differently.
- Two endpoints. It compares 2000 with 2024 and ignores the path between. Some countries had one crisis year, others steady rises.
- Coverage. 158 economies have an index for both years. Argentina, Venezuela, Lebanon, Sudan, Zimbabwe and Syria are missing, and several of them have had some of the worst inflation of the period. The real list of biggest losers is longer.
- Why 2024? It is the latest year with data for almost every economy. 2025 figures exist for most countries but are missing for some, including the United States, and are more likely to be revised.
Method and data
Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator FP.CPI.TOTL (consumer price index, 2010 = 100), retrieved from the World Bank API in October 2026. Aggregates such as "World" were removed. For each economy: price multiple = CPI 2024 / CPI 2000; average yearly rise = multiple^(1/24) - 1; purchasing power lost = 1 - CPI 2000 / CPI 2024.
https://api.worldbank.org/v2/country/all/indicator/FP.CPI.TOTL?date=2000:2024&format=json&per_page=20000