Shoe prices vs overall inflation
Two official price indexes on one scale. Both start at 100 in 1970, so the gap between the lines is the difference in price growth.
All footwear vs all items (overall inflation).
Longest run: 2 years in a row, ending 2013. Widest one-year gap: 1980 (5.8 points).
All footwear relative to all items (overall inflation), September 2026 vs the 1970 average.
Shoe prices vs overall inflation, 1970 = 100
- All footwear
- All items (overall inflation)
Change over different windows
- 1970–2025+156.8% vs +729.2%All footwear: 1.7% a year · All items (overall inflation): 3.9% a year
- 2000–2025+17.7% vs +87.0%All footwear: 0.7% a year · All items (overall inflation): 2.5% a year
- 2015–2025+6.5% vs +35.8%All footwear: 0.6% a year · All items (overall inflation): 3.1% a year
- 2020–2025+9.4% vs +24.4%All footwear: 1.8% a year · All items (overall inflation): 4.5% a year
- Last 12 months+3.4% vs +3.7%September 2026 vs a year earlier
Reading the gap
A $100 purchase of all footwear in 1970 equals $272.26 at September 2026 prices; the same $100 spent on all items (overall inflation) equals $867.84. All footwear have become 69% cheaper relative to all items (overall inflation). Both are index numbers, so the comparison is about change since 1970, not about which costs more today.
Look up a single year on the year-by-year pages, or convert an old price with the calculator.