Individual Year Conversion Factor Tables
Revised May 8, 2013 for all conversion factor tables. These are available in both Excel format (an earlier Excel version to maximize accessibility) and pdf format, for ease of printing.
These revisions reflect final 2012 CPI and inflation estimates for 2013 to 2023 from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), as of February (CBO) and April (OMB) 2013.
The CPI for 2011 (in dollars of 1982-84, the base period for the current CPI), was 224.939, presented as 2.24939 on these tables, for ease of arithmetic computation. The CPI for 2012 was 229.594, shown as 2.29594.
Inflation assumptions: The conversion factors for 2013 and later years assume 1.85% in 2013, 2.05% in 2014, 2.15% in 2015 and 2016, 2.20% in 2017, and 2.25% in each year 2018 through 2023. These are averages of OMB and CBO inflation estimates as of January (CBO) and April (OMB) 2013.
Conversion factor tables are available as Portable Document Format (pdf) files and also in Excel format, for direct use in conversion. The tables of conversion factors below cover the period 1774 to estimated 2021.
The early 2011 inflation estimate for 2011 was 1.6 percent, based on the average of CBO and OMB inflation estimates. This average was used to produce conversion factors for estimated 2011. Actual inflation in 2011 (CPI-U) was 3.2 percent. As noted in the Differences between early-year and final inflation estimates for recent years section, final conversion factors in recent years have differed significantly from estimated conversion factors early in the year.)
Suggestion: 2013 conversion factors are only estimates.
So, use final 2012 conversion factors unless 2013 is essential.
- Conversion Factors in 2012 Dollars, Using CPI-U-X1 for 1950 to estimated 2023 (CPI-U-X1 applies the post-1982 CPI to the period 1950 to 1982), with comparisons of inflation 1950 to 1982 using CPI-U and CPI-U-X1 measures pdf Excel
- Conversion Factors in 2012 Dollars, Using CPI-U-RS for 1947 to 2012 (CPI-U-RS is “Research Series,” with 1977 = 100, extended to 1947 by the Census Bureau), re-based here to 2012 = 1.000. Note that unlike other CPI measures, the CPI-U-RS data can be revised each year for earlier years, not just for the most recent year. For that reason, no estimated CPI-U-RS conversion factors are supplied for any year after 2012. pdf Excel
- Conversion Factors in 2012 Dollars, Using both CPI-U-X1 and CPI-U-RS for 1947 to estimated 2023 (this combines the previous two tables, but omits inflation comparison 1950-1982; also the CPI-U-RS conversion factors are included only through 2012, for reasons stated immediately above) pdf Excel
Original data for the CPI-U-RS are available from the Bureau of Labor Statistics
Reminder: Conversion factors for years prior to 1913 should be considered to be estimates. In addition, CPI measures have changed over time, so data for the entire period are not precisely comparable. Note that conversion factors that apply the post-1982 CPI to the period 1950 to 1982 are available above as the CPI-U-X1, in 2012 dollars.
From the main Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI page, many data are available, including a complete table of monthly CPI-U data with semi-annual and annual changes from 1913 to the present.