How can inflation be only a few percentage points and yet many goods and services are up over 50% since 2019?

Question

How can inflation be only a few percentage points and yet many goods and services are up over 50% since 2019?

In: 187

Answer 1

First of all, 2019 was 4 years ago. It was not last year. Prices, on average, are up 19% since June of 2019.

This is because, while some items are up over 50%, others have stayed mostly flat. So on average, your overall spending is up 19%. Now some people are luckier or unluckier, so some people might spend more than average on the things that are up over 50%, while others might spend more than average on the things that are mostly flat.