Uncover hidden price increases behind shrinkflation

What Is Shrinkflation?

Shrinkflation is when manufacturers reduce the size or quantity of a product while keeping the price the same — or even raising it. A bag of crisps that was 200g is now 170g at the same price: that's an effective 18% price increase that never shows on the price tag.

How to Detect Shrinkflation

Compare unit prices (price per gram, per ounce, per sheet) rather than package prices. This calculator exposes the real percentage increase in your cost-per-unit after a product has shrunk.

Why Shrinkflation Is So Easy to Miss

Packaging is cleverly designed. Manufacturers often keep the box or bag the same size, adding extra air or a larger base instead. Many people find they only notice something feels off when a recipe suddenly doesn't stretch as far as it used to. It can help to photograph the weight label on your regular buys so you have something to compare against later. This is worth considering especially for products you purchase on autopilot every week.

What the Numbers Actually Tell You

A small change in grams can mask a surprisingly large shift in real cost. A 10% reduction in size combined with even a modest price rise can push the true unit price increase well above 20%. One approach is to track a handful of household staples over time rather than trying to monitor everything at once. The figures this calculator produces are illustrative estimates — but they can be a genuinely eye-opening starting point.

Run it with sensible defaults

Using original size of 200, new size of 170, original price of 3.5, current price of 3.75, the calculation works out to 26.05%. Nudge the inputs toward your own situation and the output recalculates instantly. The defaults are meant as a starting point, not a recommendation.

The levers in this calculation

The inputs — Original Size, New Size, Original Price, and Current Price — do not pull with equal force. Not every input has equal weight. Flip one at a time toward extreme values to feel which ones move the needle most for your situation.

How the math works

This calculator compares unit prices before and after a product size change. It divides the current price by current size, then divides the original price by original size, and calculates the percentage difference. Results illustrate the effective price increase consumers experience when product quantities shrink while prices remain similar or increase. The working is transparent — you can verify every step yourself in the formula section below. No black box, no opaque "proprietary model".

Reading the real figure

The real value is what your money actually buys, after inflation. That's the number that matters — the nominal total is just the flattering headline. Pay more attention to the inflation-adjusted result when the horizon is long.

What this doesn't capture

Inflation is an average across the economy; your personal inflation rate depends on what you buy. Housing, energy, and food can move very differently from headline CPI. Consider the assumption you enter as a starting point, not a guaranteed path.