Inflation

In the study of Economics, inflation pertains to the quantitative measure of a rate in which the prices of certain goods and services within a national economy go up. In inflation, this increase in value of a basket of goods happens within a specific period of time. Here, the level of prices in general causes a unit of currency to be bought less that it did before. 
Noted in percentages, inflation indicates the decrease in a nation’s purchasing power. This is the case as, with prices rising, the single unit of a currency loses its value and thus can only buy fewer goods and services. This effectively impacts a nation’s cost of living and economic growth. The opposite of inflation opposite is deflation wherein prices decline.