About Price Lens
Price Lens tracks daily price changes across Portuguese supermarkets to make invisible price creep visible. Below you can explore over 25 years of inflation data and understand the bigger picture behind the numbers on the shelf.
Inflation trends since 1999
Historical Consumer Price Index (CPI-U) inflation rates from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Portugal and Eurozone. Data represents year-over-year percentage change spanning 25+ years of economic cycles.
Data represents a cumulative inflation rate of 65.10%, 57.00% and 54.70% for the USA, Portugal and Eurozone since 1999, respectively.
| Year | 🇵🇹 PT | 🇺🇸 USA | 🇪🇺 EURO | Economic Context |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | +2.3% | +3.2% | +2.4% | Land the plane: Moderating toward targets |
| 2023 | +5.3% | +4.1% | +5.4% | Damage was done: Cooling but elevated |
| 2022 | +7.8% | +8.0% | +8.4% | Overspending: Energy crisis, Ukraine war |
| 2021 | +1.3% | +4.7% | +2.6% | Chaos: Supply chains, reopening economies |
| 2020 | -0.1% | +1.2% | +0.3% | COVID-19 pandemic deflationary impact |
| 2019 | +0.3% | +1.8% | +1.2% | Below targets despite low unemployment |
| 2018 | +1.2% | +2.4% | +1.8% | Above targets, trade war tensions |
| 2017 | +1.6% | +2.1% | +1.5% | Recovery strengthens across regions |
Economic Period Comparisons
Relevant intervals and events that have affected the US economy and therefore the world.
Relatively stable period with moderate inflation
Higher volatility with extreme lows and recent highs
GDP fell ~3.5% as lockdowns shut down activity
What can we do?
As consumers we can at the very least be weary of price fluctuations and be more careful and conservative with our budgeting. Price Lens is a project designed to help users understand prices beyond what shelves tell us, make informed decisions, save money and be more aware of the money environment that we live in.