What is your money still worth?
The retrospective view uses the real German consumer price index since 1991. The forward view uses your assumption — and says so clearly.
Data source: consumer price index of the German Federal Statistical Office, annual averages 1991 to 2025.
€10,000.00 from 2000 equals €16,145.70 today.
In 2000 the D-Mark was still in use. The index remains comparable — the euro changeover was not a price event.
Equals today
€16,145.70
Total inflation
61.5%
Average per year
1.9%
| Period | 2000 to 2025 |
|---|---|
| Price level | 1.61× |
| Equals today | €16,145.70 |
| Purchasing power lost if held as cash | €3,806.40 |
What does this mean for your real wealth?
The calculation above shows the loss of purchasing power for one amount. The financial plan in Planafolio calculates your retirement needs with inflation and sets them against your real wealth – for free.
Save the result in your financial planWhat does the result mean?
The result shows how much purchasing power an amount has lost (looking back) or would lose at the assumed rate (looking ahead).
Model assumptions
- Looking back: official annual averages of the German consumer price index (Destatis). Years before the start of the series are set to the first available year.
- Looking ahead: a constant inflation rate as you enter it.
How the calculator works
Looking back: the ratio of the official consumer price indices of two years. Looking ahead: discounting at a constant inflation rate.
More on the methodologyWorked example
Example: what is an amount from back then worth today?
The calculator's default values above, calculated with the actual annual averages of the German consumer price index, with no assumption and no forecast.
Inputs
- Amount€10,000
- Base year2000
- Comparison year2025
Calculation
| Price level factor (index comparison year ÷ index base year) | 1.615 |
|---|---|
| Total price increase | 61.46% |
| Average inflation per year | 1.93% |
Result
| Needed in 2025 for the purchasing power of the amount in 2000 | €16,146 |
|---|---|
| Purchasing power lost if the amount sat uninvested since 2000 | €3,806 |
Even around 1.93% inflation per year adds up to a clear loss of purchasing power over this period. Money that earns less than that loses value in real terms.
Source: consumer price index for Germany from the Federal Statistical Office. In 2000 Germany still used the Deutsche Mark; read the amount as converted to euros.
Sources and status
Content reviewed on September 29, 2026.
The calculation is a simplified model under the stated assumptions and is not investment or tax advice.
What can I do?
Take inflation into account for long-term goals – that is why the financial plan and the pension gap calculator inflate your desired income up to the start of retirement.
Why it matters
Inflation is the quietest fee in your portfolio
It appears on no statement and still applies every year.
Savings accounts lose in real terms
If the account pays 2% and inflation runs at 3%, you lose 1% per year in real terms even though the balance grows. Safety-first calculations regularly miss exactly this.
Returns have to be measured in real terms
A nominal return of 7% with 2% inflation is about 4.9% in real terms (1.07 ÷ 1.02 − 1). For retirement planning only that real figure counts, because your shopping basket knows no nominal values.
Over decades everything doubles
At 2% inflation purchasing power halves in roughly 35 years. Someone needing 2,000 EUR a month today will need around 4,000 EUR then — for the same life.
Frequently asked
Understanding inflation
From the German Federal Statistical Office: consumer price index for Germany, annual averages on the 2020 = 100 basis. The all-German series is covered from 1991 onwards. Earlier figures only exist as West German indices on a different basis, which this calculator deliberately does not mix in.
Yes. Enter the D-Mark amount as a number and pick the year — purchasing power development is independent of the currency changeover, because introducing the euro in 2002 was not a price event. For a pure currency conversion, additionally divide by 1.95583.
The index measures an average household. Anyone spending an above-average share on rent, energy or food experienced noticeably higher inflation than the official figure in periods like 2022.
The European Central Bank targets 2% over the medium term, which is the usual starting point. More cautious plans use 2.5% to 3% — the calculator lets you set the value freely precisely because nobody knows it.
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