Inflation
Inflation is prices going up over time, so each euro buys a little less.
How it is measured
Statistics offices follow the prices of a big basket of things people buy. In the euro area, Eurostat publishes the result every month.
The target
The European Central Bank aims for prices to rise about 2% a year: a little, on purpose, because falling prices make people wait to buy, which slows everything down.
When it jumps
In October 2022, prices in the euro area were 10.6% higher than a year before. Money kept in a drawer lost about a tenth of what it could buy in a single year.
The real return
Take inflation off a return to see what you really gained. 5% a year with 3% inflation is about 2% a year in real terms.