Medical care · BLS CPI-U · 1997–2026
Prescription drugs Inflation — U.S. Consumer Price Index
As of June 2026, the CPI-U index for Prescription drugs is down 2.5% from a year earlier. Prescription medication prices.
Data: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U). pumsdata is an independent product and is not affiliated with or endorsed by BLS.
Prescription drugs: year-over-year inflation, 1998–2026
Percent change from the same month a year earlier, from the not-seasonally-adjusted CPI-U index.
October 2025 is missing from every CPI series — the federal government shutdown halted collection and the month was never published. Charts show a gap, and year-over-year and month-over-month figures skip any comparison touching the missing month; values are never interpolated.
Prescription drugs: annual averages
BLS annual-average index (the CPI file’s M13 rows, shown verbatim) and the year-over-year change in that average — the standard “annual inflation” figure.
| Year | Annual avg. index | Annual inflation |
|---|---|---|
| 2025* | 568.0 | +2.0% |
| 2024 | 556.9 | +1.4% |
| 2023 | 549.5 | +2.9% |
| 2022 | 533.9 | +2.2% |
| 2021 | 522.4 | -1.8% |
| 2020 | 532.1 | +1.0% |
| 2019 | 526.8 | -0.2% |
| 2018 | 528.0 | +1.6% |
| 2017 | 519.6 | +3.4% |
| 2016 | 502.5 | +4.8% |
| 2015 | 479.3 | +4.6% |
| 2014 | 458.3 | +3.6% |
| 2013 | 442.6 | +0.6% |
| 2012 | 440.1 | +3.6% |
| 2011 | 425.0 | +4.2% |
| 2010 | 407.8 | +4.3% |
| 2009 | 391.1 | +3.4% |
| 2008 | 378.3 | +2.5% |
| 2007 | 369.2 | +1.4% |
| 2006 | 363.9 | +4.3% |
| 2005 | 349.0 | +3.5% |
| 2004 | 337.1 | +3.3% |
| 2003 | 326.3 | +3.1% |
| 2002 | 316.5 | +5.2% |
| 2001 | 300.9 | +5.4% |
| 2000 | 285.4 | +4.4% |
| 1999 | 273.4 | +5.7% |
| 1998 | 258.6 | +3.7% |
| 1997 | 249.3 | — |
*The 2025 annual average reflects the eleven published months — October 2025 was never collected because of the federal government shutdown.
Prescription drugs inflation — FAQ
What is the current Prescription drugs inflation rate?+
As of June 2026, the CPI-U index for Prescription drugs is down 2.5% from a year earlier (not seasonally adjusted). Month over month, the seasonally adjusted index moved -0.1% in June 2026.
When was Prescription drugs inflation highest since 1997?+
By annual averages, the biggest increase since 1997 came in 1999, when the Prescription drugs index rose 5.7% over 1998.
Is Prescription drugs inflation higher than overall inflation?+
As of June 2026, the Prescription drugs index is down 2.5% year over year, versus up 3.5% for overall inflation (all items CPI-U). Prescription drugs prices are down over the past year even as overall inflation (all items CPI-U) is up.
Why is October 2025 missing from the Prescription drugs data?+
October 2025 is missing from every CPI series — the federal government shutdown halted collection and the month was never published. Charts show a gap, and year-over-year and month-over-month figures skip any comparison touching the missing month; values are never interpolated.
Data: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U). pumsdata is an independent product and is not affiliated with or endorsed by BLS.