Why a dollar today is worth only 7% of a dollar in 1919
Updated: May 12, 2020According to Statistics Canada consumer price index, today's prices in 2020 are 1,237.25% higher than average prices since 1919. This means that a dollar today only buys 7.48% of what it could buy in 1919. The Canadian dollar experienced an average inflation rate of 2.60% per year during this period, causing the real value of a dollar to decrease.
In other words, $100 in 1919 is equivalent in purchasing power to about $1,337.25 in 2020, a difference of $1,237.25 over 101 years.
The 1919 inflation rate was 8.51%. The current year-over-year inflation rate (2019 to 2020) is now 2.25%1. If this number holds, $100 today will be equivalent in buying power to $102.25 next year.
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| Cumulative price change | 1,237.25% |
| Average inflation rate | 2.60% |
| Converted amount ($100 base) | $1,337.25 |
| Price difference ($100 base) | $1,237.25 |
| CPI in 1919 | 10.200 |
| CPI in 2020 | 136.400 |
| Inflation in 1919 | 8.51% |
| Inflation in 2020 | 2.25% |
Buying power of $100 in 1919
This chart shows a calculation of buying power equivalence for $100 in 1919 (price index tracking began in 1914).
For example, if you started with $100, you would need to end with $1,337.25 in order to "adjust" for inflation (sometimes refered to as "beating inflation").
When $100 is equivalent to $1,337.25 over time, that means that the "real value" of a single Canadian dollar decreases over time. In other words, a dollar will pay for fewer items at the store.
This effect explains how inflation erodes the value of a dollar over time. By calculating the value in 1919 dollars, the chart below shows how $100 is worth less over 101 years.
According to Statistics Canada, each of these CAD amounts below is equal in terms of what it could buy at the time:
This conversion table shows various other 1919 amounts in today's dollars, based on the 1,237.25% change in prices:
| Initial value | Equivalent value |
|---|---|
| $1 dollar in 1919 | $13.37 dollars today |
| $5 dollars in 1919 | $66.86 dollars today |
| $10 dollars in 1919 | $133.73 dollars today |
| $50 dollars in 1919 | $668.63 dollars today |
| $100 dollars in 1919 | $1,337.25 dollars today |
| $500 dollars in 1919 | $6,686.27 dollars today |
| $1,000 dollars in 1919 | $13,372.55 dollars today |
| $5,000 dollars in 1919 | $66,862.75 dollars today |
| $10,000 dollars in 1919 | $133,725.49 dollars today |
| $50,000 dollars in 1919 | $668,627.45 dollars today |
| $100,000 dollars in 1919 | $1,337,254.90 dollars today |
| $500,000 dollars in 1919 | $6,686,274.51 dollars today |
| $1,000,000 dollars in 1919 | $13,372,549.02 dollars today |
How to Calculate Inflation Rate for $100 since 1919
Our calculations use the following inflation rate formula to calculate the change in value between 1919 and today:
CPI today
CPI in 1919
×
1919 CAD value
=
Today's value
Then plug in historical CPI values. The Canadian CPI was 10.2 in the year 1919 and 136.4 in 2020:
136.410.2
×
$100
=
$1,337.25
$100 in 1919 has the same "purchasing power" or "buying power" as $1,337.25 in 2020.
To get the total inflation rate for the 101 years between 1919 and 2020, we use the following formula:
CPI in 2020 - CPI in 1919CPI in 1919
×
100
=
Cumulative inflation rate (101 years)
Plugging in the values to this equation, we get:
136.4 - 10.210.2
×
100
=
1,237%
News headlines from 1919
Politics and news often influence economic performance. Here's what was happening at the time:
- The German Farmer's Party, which would later develop into National Socialist Party, is formed.
- The Bolshevik party re-establishes the idea of a five-member Politburo at the 8th Congress of the Russian Communist Party, making it the central body of political power in the Soviet Union. Its first members were Vladimir Lenin, Leon Trotsky, Joseph Stalin, Lev Kamenev and Nikolai Krestinsky.
- The Turkish War of Independence begins after Mustafa Kemal Ataturk's lands at Samsun, on the Black Sea.
- The Treaty of Versailles is signed ending World War I and establishing the League of Nations.
Data Source & Citation
Raw data for these calculations comes from the government of Canada's annual Consumer Price Index (CPI), established in 1914 and computed by Statistics Canada (StatCan).
You may use the following MLA citation for this page: “Value of 1919 dollars today | Canada Inflation Calculator.” Official Inflation Data, Alioth Finance, 26 May. 2020, https://www.officialdata.org/ca/inflation/1919.
Special thanks to QuickChart for providing downloadable chart images.
in2013dollars.com is a reference website maintained by the Official Data Foundation.
| Cumulative price change | 1,237.25% |
| Average inflation rate | 2.60% |
| Converted amount ($100 base) | $1,337.25 |
| Price difference ($100 base) | $1,237.25 |
| CPI in 1919 | 10.200 |
| CPI in 2020 | 136.400 |
| Inflation in 1919 | 8.51% |
| Inflation in 2020 | 2.25% |
