Has US inflation reached its highest level in history under Biden?

Claim:

Under President Joe Biden, inflation was the highest in U.S. history.

Judgement:

Context

While it is true that certain products, such as certain groceries, have risen significantly in price during the Biden administration, overall inflation was much higher in the 1970s and early 1980s.

Former US President Donald Trump claimed during the September 10, 2024 presidential debate with Vice President Kamala Harris that inflation under President Joe Biden was the highest ever:

Trump brought up inflation several times during the debate:

When I had it, I had tariffs and yet I didn’t have inflation. Look, we’ve had a terrible economy because inflation — what’s really known as a country buster. It breaks countries apart. We have inflation like few people have ever seen before. Probably the worst in the history of our country. We were at 21 percent. But that’s mild, because a lot of things are 50, 60, 70, 80 percent higher than they were a few years ago. This has been a disaster for people, for the middle class, for every class.

(…)

I had no inflation, almost no inflation. They had probably the highest inflation in the history of our country, because I’ve never seen a worse time. People can’t go out and buy cereal or bacon or eggs or anything. These — the people of our country are absolutely dying because of what they’ve done.

(…)

They have no idea what good economics is. Their oil policy — every policy — and remember this: She’s Biden. She’s trying to get away from Biden. I don’t know the gentleman, she says. She’s Biden. The worst inflation we’ve ever had. A terrible economy because inflation has made it so bad and she can’t get away with it.

A thorough examination of historical inflation data showed that as high as inflation was under Biden, it was much worse in the 1970s and early 1980s. We therefore rated this claim “False.”

As Snopes previously reported, inflation rose between January 2021, when Biden took office, and June 2022, when it peaked at 9.1%. World Bank data, charted by the St. Louis Federal Reserve, showed that consumer prices were 8% higher in 2022 than the year before:

(St. Louis Federal Reserve)

But as the chart also shows, while inflation in 2022 was the highest in more than 40 years, it was much higher in 1981 (10.3%), 1980 (13.5%), 1979 (11.3%), 1975 (9.1%), and 1974 (11.1%). Given that Trump was alive during those years, he did indeed live through a “worse period” inflation-wise, contrary to what he claimed during the debate.

Trump suggested there had been a 21% increase in consumer prices to support his claim. Previous Snopes reports indicate he may have been referring to a cumulative Biden’s grocery price increase; that is, the increase in the cost of groceries between when Biden takes office in January and more than three years later in 2024 — as opposed to an annual inflation rate. Indeed, grocery prices rose 21.1% between January 2021 and August 2024, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. It’s true that grocery prices haven’t risen this much over such a period, at least not since records began in 1960. The reason this isn’t reflected in the overall inflation rate is that the “basket of goods” used to calculate the consumer price index includes items beyond groceries, such as housing, transportation, clothing and medical care.

Our research has not found that other consumer goods have seen a 50% to 80% increase in price over the same period. We calculate that the cost of electricity per kilowatt-hour has increased by about 30% during Biden’s presidency, largely due to higher energy costs caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Sources