Museum of the National Bank of Belgium

Although frequent subject in the news, the notions of purchasing power and inflation are not any easier to understand. In Room 14 of the Museum you can see how prices have changed for a selection of items (bread, meat, milk, beer and coal/oil) and, in parallel, the development of the average hourly wages of a worker, from 1860 until the present day. The table showing the evolution of prices is based on a principle similar to that used for the consumer price index (CPI) .