constant dollars

Cultural  

1. A convention of statistics that measures industrial output and the like over time while controlling for changes owing to inflation. Using constant dollars usually gives a clearer view of how an enterprise is performing over time.

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Example Sentences

Since the 1920s, the so-called real return on the S&P 500, meaning the return in constant dollars, has been negative in 24% of all five-year periods.

From MarketWatch • Feb. 5, 2026

CDC's budget for diabetes prevention jumped from $66 million in 2010 to $173 million in 2017—a 123% rise, in constant dollars.

From Science Magazine • Mar. 7, 2019

Education Department’s National Center for Education Statistics, the starting salary for Kansas teachers is down an average of 4.3 percent in constant dollars from what they were paid 16 years earlier.

From Washington Times • Apr. 24, 2018

But UC officials contend that the money available per student from state contributions, tuition and fees, and general university funds has declined by about $11,000, or 31.2%, in constant dollars since 2000.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 23, 2018

In constant dollars, the Park Service budget today is $200 million a year less than it was a decade ago.

From "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson