$1 in 1950 is worth $12.72 today

Value of $1 from 1950 to 2024

$1 in 1950 is equivalent in purchasing power to about $12.72 today, an increase of $11.72 over 74 years. The dollar had an average inflation rate of 3.50% per year between 1950 and today, producing a cumulative price increase of 1,172.10%.

This means that today's prices are 12.72 times as high as average prices since 1950, according to Statistics Canada consumer price index. A dollar today only buys 7.862% of what it could buy back then.

The inflation rate in 1950 was 2.67%. The current inflation rate compared to last year is now 1.15%. If this number holds, $1 today will be equivalent in buying power to $1.01 next year.


Inflation from 1950 to 2024
Cumulative price change1,172.10%
Average inflation rate3.50%
Converted amount
$1 base
$12.72
Price difference
$1 base
$11.72
CPI in 195012.483
CPI in 2024158.800
Inflation in 19502.67%
Inflation in 20241.15%
$1 in 1950$12.72 in 2024

CAD inflation since 1950
Annual Rate, Statistics Canada CPI
Download

Buying power of $1 in 1950

This chart shows a calculation of buying power equivalence for $1 in 1950 (price index tracking began in 1914).

For example, if you started with $1, you would need to end with $12.72 in order to "adjust" for inflation (sometimes refered to as "beating inflation").

When $1 is equivalent to $12.72 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 1950 dollars, the chart below shows how $1 is worth less over 74 years.

According to Statistics Canada, each of these CAD amounts below is equal in terms of what it could buy at the time:

Dollar inflation: 1950-2024
YearDollar ValueInflation Rate
1950$1.002.67%
1951$1.1110.55%
1952$1.132.60%
1953$1.12-1.00%
1954$1.130.65%
1955$1.130.18%
1956$1.151.36%
1957$1.193.32%
1958$1.212.36%
1959$1.231.21%
1960$1.241.36%
1961$1.261.02%
1962$1.271.06%
1963$1.291.63%
1964$1.321.91%
1965$1.352.33%
1966$1.403.82%
1967$1.453.58%
1968$1.514.06%
1969$1.584.56%
1970$1.633.35%
1971$1.672.70%
1972$1.764.99%
1973$1.897.49%
1974$2.1011.00%
1975$2.3210.67%
1976$2.497.54%
1977$2.697.98%
1978$2.938.97%
1979$3.209.14%
1980$3.5310.13%
1981$3.9712.47%
1982$4.3910.77%
1983$4.655.86%
1984$4.854.30%
1985$5.043.96%
1986$5.264.19%
1987$5.494.36%
1988$5.714.03%
1989$5.994.98%
1990$6.284.78%
1991$6.635.63%
1992$6.731.49%
1993$6.851.87%
1994$6.870.17%
1995$7.012.15%
1996$7.121.57%
1997$7.241.62%
1998$7.311.00%
1999$7.441.73%
2000$7.642.72%
2001$7.832.53%
2002$8.012.26%
2003$8.232.76%
2004$8.381.86%
2005$8.572.21%
2006$8.742.00%
2007$8.932.14%
2008$9.142.37%
2009$9.170.30%
2010$9.331.78%
2011$9.602.91%
2012$9.751.52%
2013$9.840.94%
2014$10.031.91%
2015$10.141.13%
2016$10.281.43%
2017$10.451.60%
2018$10.682.27%
2019$10.891.95%
2020$10.970.72%
2021$11.343.40%
2022$12.126.80%
2023$12.583.81%
2024$12.721.15%*
* Compared to previous annual rate. Not final. See inflation summary for latest 12-month trailing value.
Click to show 68 more rows

This conversion table shows various other 1950 amounts in today's dollars, based on the 1,172.10% change in prices:

Conversion: 1950 dollars today
Initial valueEquivalent value
$1 dollar in 1950$12.72 dollars today
$5 dollars in 1950$63.60 dollars today
$10 dollars in 1950$127.21 dollars today
$50 dollars in 1950$636.05 dollars today
$100 dollars in 1950$1,272.10 dollars today
$500 dollars in 1950$6,360.48 dollars today
$1,000 dollars in 1950$12,720.96 dollars today
$5,000 dollars in 1950$63,604.81 dollars today
$10,000 dollars in 1950$127,209.61 dollars today
$50,000 dollars in 1950$636,048.06 dollars today
$100,000 dollars in 1950$1,272,096.13 dollars today
$500,000 dollars in 1950$6,360,480.64 dollars today
$1,000,000 dollars in 1950$12,720,961.29 dollars today

How to calculate inflation rate for $1 since 1950

Our calculations use the following inflation rate formula to calculate the change in value between 1950 and today:

CPI today CPI in 1950
×
1950 CAD value
=
Today's value

Then plug in historical CPI values. The Canadian CPI was 12.48333333 in the year 1950 and 158.8 in 2024:

158.812.48333333
×
$1
=
$12.72

$1 in 1950 has the same "purchasing power" or "buying power" as $12.72 in 2024.

To get the total inflation rate for the 74 years between 1950 and 2024, we use the following formula:

CPI in 2024 - CPI in 1950CPI in 1950
×
100
=
Cumulative inflation rate (74 years)

Plugging in the values to this equation, we get:

158.8 - 12.4833333312.48333333
×
100
=
1,172%

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: “$1 in 1950 → 2024 | Canada Inflation Calculator.” Official Inflation Data, Alioth Finance, 29 Mar. 2024, https://www.officialdata.org/canada/inflation/1950?amount=1.

Special thanks to QuickChart for their chart image API, which is used for chart downloads.

in2013dollars.com is a reference website maintained by the Official Data Foundation.


Ian Webster

About the author

Ian Webster is an engineer and data expert based in San Mateo, California. He has worked for Google, NASA, and consulted for governments around the world on data pipelines and data analysis. Disappointed by the lack of clear resources on the impacts of inflation on economic indicators, Ian believes this website serves as a valuable public tool. Ian earned his degree in Computer Science from Dartmouth College.

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Inflation from 1950 to 2024
Cumulative price change1,172.10%
Average inflation rate3.50%
Converted amount
$1 base
$12.72
Price difference
$1 base
$11.72
CPI in 195012.483
CPI in 2024158.800
Inflation in 19502.67%
Inflation in 20241.15%
$1 in 1950$12.72 in 2024