Retrieve a CPI Value

This example retrieves the Canadian All-Items CPI for September 2026.

You can retrieve the value either interactively through the finPack task pane or directly through an Excel worksheet function.

Example

We want to retrieve:

Input	Value
Country	Canada
CPI Series	All-Items
Year	2026
Month	September

The CPI value for this example is:

170.0

Method 1: Use the finPack task pane

Select the CPI data

At the top of the finPack task pane:

1. Select Canada as the country.
2. Select All-Items as the CPI series.

Retrieve the value

In the CPI Value section:

1. Enter 2026 as the year.
2. Select September as the month.
3. Select Get CPI Value.

finPack displays:

Period                  2026-09
Value                   170.0
Change from last month  0.1%

The Change from last month result shows how the selected CPI value changed from the immediately preceding month.

Insert the value into Excel

To place the CPI value in the workbook:

1. Select one Excel cell.
2. Select Insert into Excel.

finPack inserts the CPI value into the selected cell as a numeric value.

The current version inserts the value itself rather than a worksheet formula.

Method 2: Use FINPACK.CPI

The same CPI value can be retrieved directly from an Excel cell.

Enter:

=FINPACK.CPI("ca","all-items",2026,9)

The function returns:

170

Excel controls how many decimal places are displayed through the cell's number format. Changing the cell's number format does not change the underlying numeric CPI value returned by finPack. For example:

CPI Information	Numeric Value	Excel Format	Cell Display
CA, All-Items, 2026-09	170.0	"#0.0"	170.0
US, All-Items, 2026-09	336.94	"#0.000"	336.940

Use cell references

For a reusable worksheet model, place the function arguments in separate cells.

For example:

Cell	Value
A2	ca
B2	all-items
C2	2026
D2	9

Then enter:

=FINPACK.CPI(A2,B2,C2,D2)

Changing the input cells changes the CPI request used by the formula.

Task pane or worksheet function?

Use the CPI Value task-pane feature when you want to:

• Select the inputs interactively.
• See the change from the previous month.
• See whether the CPI observation is estimated.
• Insert the value into the selected Excel cell.

Use FINPACK.CPI when you want to:

• Keep the CPI request visible as part of the workbook logic.
• Use cell references for the inputs.
• Use the CPI result in other Excel formulas.

Estimated observations

If the requested observation was not published by the provider but was estimated using the provider's recommended methodology, the task pane identifies the value as estimated.

For example:

Value  324.461 (estimated)

FINPACK.CPI continues to return a numeric value so the result can be used in Excel calculations.

Related topics

• FINPACK.CPI — Retrieve the individual CPI values used in a comparison.
• FINPACK.CPIINCREASE — Complete function reference.
• FINPACK.CPIAVGCHANGE — Complete function reference.
• CPI Value — Detailed instructions for the task-pane feature.
• Calculate Annual CPI Increase — Compare the selected month with the same month one year earlier.
• Estimated CPI Observations — How finPack identifies estimated CPI data.
• CPI Data — Review the latest CPI Increase in the task pane.
• Compare Average CPI Periods — Compare consecutive average CPI periods instead of individual monthly observations.