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Consumer Price Index, CPI-U (CUSR0000SEMF) · Medicinal drugs, U.S. city average, seasonally adjusted

What is the consumer price index for medicinal drugs?

The consumer price index for medicinal drugs was 131.3 in the month ended , down 3.4% from a year earlier.

Consumer price index for medicinal drugs, U.S. city average, seasonally adjusted, each month

January 2011 to September 2026Seasonally adjusted, as published

Consumer price index for medicinal drugs, U.S. city average, seasonally adjusted, each month (January 2011 to September 2026), recessions shaded
Consumer price index for medicinal drugs, U.S. city average, seasonally adjusted, each month (September 2016 to September 2026), recessions shaded
Consumer price index for medicinal drugs, U.S. city average, seasonally adjusted, each month (September 2024 to September 2026)

Shaded bands are US recessions as the National Bureau of Economic Research dates them: to .

Shaded bands are US recessions as the National Bureau of Economic Research dates them: to .

Consumer price index for medicinal drugs, U.S. city average, change from a year earlier, each month (ours)

January 2011 to September 2026Ours, from the published values

Consumer price index for medicinal drugs, U.S. city average, change from a year earlier, each month (ours) (January 2011 to September 2026), recessions shaded
Consumer price index for medicinal drugs, U.S. city average, change from a year earlier, each month (ours) (September 2016 to September 2026), recessions shaded
Consumer price index for medicinal drugs, U.S. city average, change from a year earlier, each month (ours) (September 2024 to September 2026)

Shaded bands are US recessions as the National Bureau of Economic Research dates them: to .

Shaded bands are US recessions as the National Bureau of Economic Research dates them: to .

Each point is one month of the series as the source publishes it, or a change worked out from those values (ours). The US recessions are shaded. Pointing at the chart shows the month and the value.

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Inspect and compare dates

The newest month beside the one before it and the nearest ones a year, five and ten years earlier. The last ten years are in the table under "The numbers behind the chart".

MeasureLatestThe month beforeA year earlierFive years earlierTen years earlier
Month
Consumer price index for medicinal drugs, U.S. city average131.3132.3136.0123.5122.5
Change over a year−3.4%−2.7%+0.6%−1.6%+5.5%

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Observed .

Right now

The consumer price index for medicinal drugs was 131.3 in September 2026, the lowest since April 2023.

Over a year it is down 3.4% (ours).

See every month of the last ten years

ChangeOurs

PeriodThenChange
One month132.3 in −0.8%
Three months133.5 in −1.6%
Twelve months136.0 in −3.4%
Five years123.5 in +6.3%
Ten years122.5 in +7.2%

In historyOurs

The consumer price index for medicinal drugs of 131.3 in was higher than in 148 of the 187 other months since , the same in 0 and lower in 39.

Highest since : 137.0 in . Lowest since : 103.7 in .

AverageOurs

Average since : 122.10 (ours, a plain mean of the 188 months).

ComparedOurs

Over a year the consumer price index for medicinal drugs is down 3.4%, which ranks 11 of the 11 rows of the table, where 1 is the largest change.

The table sets the consumer price index for medicinal drugs beside the medical and personal care items on their inflation page, by the change over a year in each one's newest month.

See every row of the ranking

Understanding the consumer price index for medicinal drugs

Where it stands today

The consumer price index for medicinal drugs was 131.3 in September 2026.

What does the consumer price index for medicinal drugs measure?

This is the consumer price index for medicinal drugs: one of the series of the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), U.S. city average. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) publishes it each month, about two weeks after the month ends, and scales it so that the December 2009 level is 100. It is seasonally adjusted: BLS removes the regular swings of the calendar year, so that one month can be set beside the next.

Read more

What 500metrics adds: the change over one month, three months, a year and five years, the highest and lowest value since the series begins, how the change over a year ranks among the medical and personal care items on their inflation page, and the history in one chart and one file.

The numbers behind the chart

What was the consumer price index for medicinal drugs in each month?The last ten years, 119 months, newest first; the chart and the file have every month since Jan 2011
Consumer price index for medicinal drugs, U.S. city average, seasonally adjusted, by month, newest first (Index, December 2009 = 100; the change ours)
MonthValueChange over a year
131.3−3.4%
132.3−2.7%
132.8−2.7%
133.5−2.3%
133.5−2.2%
134.6−0.9%
135.0−0.2%
136.4−0.4%
136.7−0.1%
136.9+1.5%
136.2+1.0%
136.0+0.6%
136.0−0.2%
136.50.0%
136.6+0.3%
136.5+0.3%
135.8+1.1%
135.2+1.2%
137.0+2.7%
136.8+2.6%
134.9+0.6%
134.8+0.3%
134.9+0.9%
135.2+1.7%
Show 95 more rows
MonthValueChange over a year
136.2+2.1%
136.5+2.9%
136.2+3.3%
136.1+3.4%
134.3+2.6%
133.6+2.5%
133.4+2.9%
133.3+3.0%
134.0+4.8%
134.3+5.0%
133.7+4.6%
132.9+4.0%
133.4+4.2%
132.6+3.8%
131.8+3.8%
131.6+4.0%
130.9+3.6%
130.3+3.2%
129.6+2.9%
129.5+3.2%
127.9+2.8%
128.0+2.8%
127.9+2.9%
127.8+3.5%
128.0+4.0%
127.7+3.5%
127.0+3.1%
126.5+2.3%
126.4+2.1%
126.3+2.7%
126.0+2.5%
125.5+1.3%
124.4+0.2%
124.40.0%
124.2−0.4%
123.5−1.6%
123.2−2.4%
123.4−1.9%
123.2−2.0%
123.7−1.7%
123.8−1.5%
123.0−2.3%
122.9−2.4%
123.9−2.1%
124.2−2.1%
124.5−0.7%
124.7−0.6%
125.5+1.1%
126.2+0.8%
125.8+1.1%
125.8+1.4%
125.8+0.9%
125.8+0.8%
125.9+1.3%
126.0+1.9%
126.5+1.8%
126.9+2.5%
125.3+0.6%
125.5+1.0%
124.2−0.3%
125.20.0%
124.4−0.5%
124.1−1.6%
124.6−0.8%
124.8+0.1%
124.3−0.7%
123.7−1.1%
124.3−0.4%
123.8−0.6%
124.6+0.6%
124.3+0.7%
124.6+0.7%
125.2+0.3%
125.1+0.4%
126.1+2.4%
125.7+2.8%
124.7+2.1%
125.1+1.5%
125.1+1.6%
124.7+1.8%
124.5+1.9%
123.9+1.7%
123.5+0.8%
123.7+1.0%
124.8+3.0%
124.6+3.8%
123.2+3.2%
122.3+3.2%
122.1+2.6%
123.2+4.2%
123.1+4.5%
122.5+4.7%
122.1+4.7%
121.8+4.5%
122.4+5.3%
How does it compare with the medical and personal care items on their inflation page?Ranked by the change over a year
Consumer price index for medicinal drugs, U.S. city average beside the medical and personal care items on their inflation page, newest month of each, by the change over a year (ours); equal changes share a rank
SeriesMonthValueChange over a yearRank
Tobacco and smoking products112.1+6.4%1
Hospital and related services110.7+5.4%2
Other personal services614.5+5.1%3
Other goods151.3+3.8%4
Personal care304.7+3.7%5
Professional medical services457.5+3.4%6
Other personal goods90.8+2.9%7
Medical care services655.4+2.5%8
Personal care products184.8+2.1%9
Medical care commodities402.8−3.3%10
Medicinal drugs131.3−3.4%11

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What do these figures leave out, and how are they cited?Limits, dates and how to cite

What this number cannot tell you

  • The index measures the change of prices, not the prices themselves and not the dollars spent. Prices at a value of 150 are 50% above the December 2009 level. The index of one item says nothing about how high its prices are compared with those of another item.
  • The values are seasonally adjusted, and BLS revises the adjusted values of the last five years each February, so a past value on this page can change. The change over 12 months that BLS headlines is worked out from values that are not seasonally adjusted, and can differ from the change on this page.
  • BLS did not collect prices for October 2025 because of the lapse in appropriations. Where BLS publishes no value for that month, the page has none and the chart shows a gap.
  • The index is shown to one decimal, but the changes, the ranks and the highest and lowest values are ours, worked out from the values BLS publishes, which have three. A change is in percent, and can differ by 0.1 from one worked out from the values as shown.

Observed . Checked .

How to cite this

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Price Index, Medicinal drugs, U.S. city average, seasonally adjusted, through September 2026. Compiled by 500metrics, "What is the consumer price index for medicinal drugs?", https://500metrics.com/medical-and-personal-inflation/medicinal-drugs.

Can the data be downloaded?medical-and-personal-inflation-medicinal-drugs.csv

Download the full history as CSV: 188 rows, to , 3,784 bytes.

Our text and compilation: CC BY 4.0.

Recession dates from the National Bureau of Economic Research.

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