Prices, Inflation and Saving: Where the United States Stands

Prices and Money at a Glance

This slideshow steps through five indicators on prices, saving and income, one frame per indicator. Each frame shows a ranking bar chart, the value and rank for the highlighted country, and a trend line of its recent history. All figures come from the World Bank's World Development Indicators and the IMF.

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Consumer price inflation	94	US consumer price inflation was 2.9495% in 2024, 94th of 193 countries
GDP deflator inflation	61	The US GDP deflator rose 2.4827% in 2024, 61st of 213 countries
Consumer price index	75	The US consumer price index reached 143.8573 in 2024 on a 2010 base of 100, 75th of 192
Gross savings (% of GDP)	119	US gross savings were 17.8109% of GDP in 2024, 119th of 178 countries
GDP per capita (nominal)	8	US GDP per capita is put at US$94,429.753 for 2026, 8th of 227 countries

Read each frame on its own terms: the value and rank belong to that indicator only. Do not compare ranks or values across frames — the units differ (percent, index, US dollars) and the number of countries covered ranges from 178 to 227.

Key Points

Across the price-and-money indicators in this edition, the United States sits close to the middle of the pack on inflation but near the very top on income. Consumer price inflation was 2.9495% in 2024, ranking 94th of 193 countries — and because these rankings run from the smallest value upward, 94th means almost exactly the midpoint of the world. The cumulative price level tells a fuller story: the US consumer price index stood at 143.8573 in 2024 against a 2010 base of 100, ranking 75th of 192, so prices have risen more since 2010 than in about a third of the countries measured. Meanwhile gross savings were 17.8109% of GDP (119th of 178), below the world value of 26.1879%, while GDP per capita is projected at US$94,429.753 for 2026, 8th of 227. The combination is a country with mid-range inflation, low national saving and very high nominal income.

*Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators (FP.CPI.TOTL.ZG, FP.CPI.TOTL, NY.GNS.ICTR.ZS); International Monetary Fund (NGDPDPC).*

The Headline Number

The lead indicator is consumer price inflation. For the United States the 2024 value is 2.9495%, ranking 94th out of 193 countries covered. This indicator has no world value in the source data, so no comparison with a world average is possible here; the useful reference is the midpoint of the ranking, near 97th, which the US sits just above on the low-inflation side — but only barely. Where a world figure does exist is the GDP deflator: US inflation on that measure was 2.4827% in 2024 (61st of 213), against a world value of 3.9118%, about 1.4 points lower. The two measures cover different baskets, so they do not have to agree.

*Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators — Inflation, consumer prices (annual %), FP.CPI.TOTL.ZG; Inflation, GDP deflator (annual %), NY.GDP.DEFL.KD.ZG.*

Who Is at the Top and Bottom

At the low end of consumer price inflation in 2024 are Iraq at -12.297%, Afghanistan at -6.6012%, the Cayman Islands at -0.6253%, Sri Lanka at -0.4294% and Costa Rica at -0.4129%, with China at 0.2181% and Armenia at 0.2695% close behind. This end mixes oil producers, small island economies and countries where prices fell during economic disruption — a low rank here is not by itself a sign of a healthy economy. At the high end sit Venezuela at 254.9485%, Argentina at 219.8839%, Sudan at 138.8085%, Zimbabwe at 104.7052%, South Sudan at 91.4408% and Türkiye at 58.5065% — countries with currency crises or sustained high inflation. The US at 2.9495% is nowhere near either extreme; it belongs to the broad middle. On the cumulative index the pattern repeats: Nauru at 100.1752, Tuvalu at 100.5006 and Switzerland at 105.5091 anchor the low end, Japan sits 9th at 114.4138, and the US at 143.8573 ranks 75th of 192, ahead of the UK at 147.4108 but above most of Europe.

*Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators — FP.CPI.TOTL.ZG and FP.CPI.TOTL (2010 = 100).*

How the Past Decade Changed Things

US consumer price inflation was 1.4648% in 2013, dipped to 0.1186% in 2015, and stayed between 1.2336% and 2.4426% through 2020. It then jumped to 4.6979% in 2021 and 8.0028% in 2022 before easing to 4.1163% in 2023 and 2.9495% in 2024. The index makes the accumulation visible: 106.8338 in 2013 rose only to 118.6905 by 2020 — under 12 points in seven years — then climbed to 143.8573 by 2024, about 25 points in four. The GDP deflator followed a similar path, from 1.476% in 2013 to a peak of 7.1295% in 2022 and back to 2.4827% in 2024. Gross savings drifted down over the same span, from 19.7947% of GDP in 2015 to 17.8109% in 2024. GDP per capita rose steadily from US$57,006.926 in 2015 to US$86,173.365 in 2024, with US$89,991.152 and US$94,429.753 shown for 2025 and 2026. The data alone does not establish why any of these changed.

*Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators (FP.CPI.TOTL.ZG, FP.CPI.TOTL, NY.GDP.DEFL.KD.ZG, NY.GNS.ICTR.ZS); International Monetary Fund (NGDPDPC).*

Compared With Peers

On 2024 consumer price inflation the US at 2.9495% sits among comparable economies: the UK 3.2716%, Japan 2.7385%, South Korea 2.3217%, Germany 2.2565%, France 1.999% and China 0.2181%. Most major economies fall in the 2–3% band and the US is at its upper edge. The gaps widen on the cumulative index, where the US at 143.8573 is close to the UK at 147.4108 but sits 9.0 points above Germany at 134.8686, 11.3 above China at 132.5176, 11.7 above South Korea at 132.1956, 17.4 above France at 126.5067 and 29.4 above Japan at 114.4138. Saving is where the US stands out most: gross savings of 17.8109% of GDP compare with Japan 31.0681%, South Korea 35.0305%, China 42.8328%, Germany 27.1419% and France 21.4347% — only the UK at 17.0025% is lower. GDP per capita runs the other way: the US at US$94,429.753 for 2026 is about 1.45 times Germany's US$65,302.893, 1.55 times the UK's US$61,056.098, 2.6 times Japan's US$35,703.432 and 6.3 times China's US$14,873.569.

*Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators (FP.CPI.TOTL.ZG, FP.CPI.TOTL, NY.GNS.ICTR.ZS); International Monetary Fund (NGDPDPC).*

How to Read These Numbers

The consumer price index here is each country's own price level rebased to 2010 = 100 in its own currency. It measures how much prices have risen since 2010 within a country — it is not a purchasing-power comparison, so a lower index does not mean a country is cheaper to live in. All the price rankings run from the smallest value upward, and the leaders are negative — Iraq at -12.297%, Afghanistan at -6.6012%, Liechtenstein at -9.9007% on the deflator — so a high rank should not be read as good economic performance, nor a middling rank as unusually severe inflation. Gross savings is gross national saving as a share of GDP for the whole economy, covering households, companies and government together; it is not a household saving rate. GDP per capita is nominal and in US dollars, so exchange-rate movements affect it, and its latest year is 2026, which includes IMF projections rather than recorded outcomes — the other four indicators end in 2024, so the years are not aligned. Country coverage also varies, from 178 to 227, which means ranks are not directly comparable between indicators. The sources are the World Bank's World Development Indicators and the IMF, both updated annually, and values may be revised.

*Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators (FP.CPI.TOTL.ZG, FP.CPI.TOTL, NY.GDP.DEFL.KD.ZG, NY.GNS.ICTR.ZS); International Monetary Fund (NGDPDPC).*

Consumer price inflation on the map and in charts

The table runs from Iraq at -12.297% and Afghanistan at -6.6012% up to Venezuela at 254.9485% and Argentina at 219.8839%. The US at 2.9495% sits in the broad middle, near Japan at 2.7385% and the UK at 3.2716%.

The trend line shows the rise to 8.0028% in 2022 and the fall to 2.9495% by 2024. The bars are dominated by a handful of very high-inflation countries, so most of the world is compressed near the low end.

Compare countries

GDP deflator inflation

Ranked from lowest to highest, the table starts with Liechtenstein at -9.9% and Brunei at -2.8% and ends with Zimbabwe at 1097.2% and Sudan at 243.9%. The US at rank 61 sits above France (2.1%, rank 53) and below Japan (2.9%, rank 70).

The US line climbs from 0.7% in 2020 to 7.1% in 2022, then falls to 3.6% in 2023 and 2.5% in 2024. Peers in 2024 spread from China at -0.7% to South Korea at 4.1%, with the world at 3.9%.

Consumer price index

Nauru at 100.1752, Tuvalu at 100.5006 and Switzerland at 105.5091 lead the low end, with Japan 9th at 114.4138; South Sudan at 41280.7397 and Sudan at 38796.5573 close the table. The US at 143.8573 ranks 75th, just below the UK at 147.4108.

The trend line is flat-to-gentle from 106.8338 in 2013 to 118.6905 in 2020, then steepens to 143.8573 by 2024. The spread between countries is enormous, so the bars are best read on a compressed scale.

Gross savings (% of GDP)

Qatar at 57.421% and Suriname at 50.3399% top the table, while Timor-Leste at -21.1282% and Lebanon at -12.7002% are negative at the bottom. The US at 17.8109% is in the lower half, just above the UK at 17.0025%.

The trend line drifts down from 19.7947% in 2015 to 17.8109% in 2024. Peer economies spread widely, from China at 42.8328% to the UK at 17.0025%.

GDP per capita (nominal)

Liechtenstein at US$226,809.136 and Luxembourg at US$158,733.346 lead; Yemen at US$383.749 and Afghanistan at US$448.457 sit at the bottom. The US at US$94,429.753 ranks 8th, above Denmark at US$83,445.326.

The trend line climbs steadily from US$57,006.926 in 2015 to US$94,429.753 in 2026. The gap across countries spans more than two orders of magnitude, from under US$400 to over US$226,000.