This is a tool that tells you how much the Kenya Shilling, KES, has lost its value over time. It uses data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics(KNBS), which has been tracking the prices of goods and services since 1960. Back then, it was called the Central Bureau of Statistics, but they changed their name in 2006. This tool uses 2010 as the base year, but KNBS uses February 2019 as theirs. Don't use it to make any important decisions, it's just for fun. And don't use it to argue with your friends and family about how cheap things were in the old days. Trust me, it's not worth it. (see editor's note)

How does the calculator work?

Paraphrasing the explanation given by the central bank of England, if I wanted to find out in today's prices, what goods and services costing KES 23 in 1975 would have cost in 2023:

The price index for 1975 = 17.78

The price index for 2023 = 44.6

The calculator increases the cost in 1975 by the change in prices between 1975 and 2023 with this formula:

So the cost in 2023 of the same goods and services has risen to KES 57.68.

Lastly, the calculator also includes the United States dollar(Usd) equivalent for the chosen year. Here we use the average Usd to Kes exchange rate for the reference year. Surprisingly, 1 dollar was once equal to 7 Kenya Shillings a long time ago; the good times.

Use this tool wisely.

Editor's note- The author was a maths whiz, but only in the writer's dreams, so the numbers above are probably wrong.