What were annual inflation rates and main sector contributors for 2021 through 2025 under Biden?
Executive summary
Annual headline inflation rose sharply after the pandemic, peaking near 9.1% in mid‑2022 before moving back toward the Fed’s 2% goal: sources show a surge beginning in 2021, a 9.1% peak in 2022, and disinflation through 2023–2025 with readings around 3.0% in early 2025 [1] [2] [3]. Analysts and official summaries identify shelter, energy (especially gasoline), used vehicles and supply‑chain shocks as the main sector contributors to the 2021–2023 spike; shelter and services remained large contributors into 2024–25 as goods pressures eased [2] [4] [5].
1. How big were annual inflation rates each year of the Biden era (2021–2025)?
Available sources describe the pattern rather than a single table of calendar‑year numbers: inflation rose from low pandemic levels in 2021 into a surge that peaked at about 9.1% in June 2022, then fell through 2023 and into 2024–25 with 2025 headline readings around 2.7–3.0% in mid‑to‑late 2025 and 3.0% reported for January 2025 in one review [1] [2] [6] [3]. Investopedia and other retrospectives report an average year‑over‑year inflation under Biden near 4.9–5.4% across his term, reflecting the high 2021–2022 months and subsequent cooling [7] [8]. Exact calendar‑year CPI percentages by year are not listed in these snippets; the cited pieces emphasize peak (9.1% in 2022) and the later return toward roughly 3% by 2025 [1] [2] [3].
2. What sectors drove the 2021–2022 spike?
Analysts point to a combination of pandemic reopening demand, supply‑chain bottlenecks and energy shocks. Energy and gasoline price moves — amplified by the Russian invasion of Ukraine in early 2022 — were major headline drivers, along with sharp price moves in used vehicles and some goods categories tied to supply disruptions [2] [4]. Shelter (rent and owners’ equivalent rent) began accelerating in 2021 and, because it carries roughly a third of CPI weight, amplified overall inflation once rents rose [4].
3. Why did inflation fall after 2022, and which sectors kept it elevated?
Disinflation after the 2022 peak reflected easing goods price pressures, fading pandemic‑era supply shocks and Federal Reserve tightening; however, core inflation stayed elevated longer because of services and shelter cost persistence and a still‑tight labor market, which kept wages and service prices higher [9] [2]. Multiple sources highlight that while energy and goods moderated, housing/shelter and services were the slow‑moving sources of inflation into 2024–25 [5] [9].
4. How do partisan or political summaries treat these numbers?
Political actors present competing narratives. House Republican statements emphasize cumulative price increases since January 2021 (claims of “nearly 20%” or 17% cumulative increases) to blame administration fiscal policy [10] [11]. Conversely, economic summaries and academic analyses stress global shocks (pandemic demand rebound, supply constraints, and the Ukraine war) and note that presidents have limited direct control over inflation relative to the Federal Reserve [12] [2]. Both perspectives use the same CPI data but emphasize different causes and timeframes [10] [12].
5. What about wages and household purchasing power?
One analysis reports wages rose about 19.9% from Jan 2021 through Jan 2025 but prices rose roughly 21.5%, leaving average hourly earnings adjusted for inflation down about 1.3% over that span, indicating real wage compression despite nominal gains [3]. That framing is used to argue the inflation episode eroded living standards even as labor markets were tight [3].
6. Limits of available reporting and areas not documented here
The provided sources do not deliver a single authoritative table of calendar‑year CPI figures for 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025 side‑by‑side; instead they give peak values, averages and narrative summaries (not found in current reporting). Also, precise month‑by‑month contributor decompositions for each calendar year (the BLS “contributions to monthly change” style breakdown) are not included in the snippets above (not found in current reporting). When sources disagree, partisan releases emphasize fiscal policy blame while academic and BLS‑based analyses point to supply shocks and energy — readers should weigh both.
Sources: Investopedia overview and averages [7]; wage/CPI retrospective [3]; comparative pieces and forecasts [8]; BLS and academic accounts of sector contributions and the 2021–2023 surge [1] [2] [4] [9]; Treasury and data visualizations describing shelter’s outsized role through 2025 [5] [13].