Wow #1 · Mid pack after conversion
~$6
Same 1,020-coin pack, converted to U.S. dollars, in every country I listed.
Wow #2 · Everyday prices since 2021
11–28%
Official all-items price tracks in this country sample (not food or rent alone).
A country panel for the mid Minecoin pack: local listed prices, converted dollars, and each country’s official everyday-price rise since early 2021. Not a claim that Microsoft “owes” anyone cheaper coins.
Picture a $6 app sold at matched local store prices worldwide. The app’s dollar price stays flat. Broader everyday prices in each country do not.
1. Same mid pack. One U.S. dollar price
I used the familiar mid pack (1,020 coins). Each country lists a price in local money. Convert with a recent currency rate. Every row lands near $5.99.
Many global digital stores set “equal” dollar prices on purpose.
2. Everyday prices did not rise together
I tracked each country’s official all-items consumer price index (a broad everyday-price basket). Some series are yearly. Some end early. Notes are in the table.
Those rises do not match the flat coin dollar story:
Everyday-price rise since early 2021
Higher bar = official all-items prices rose faster. The flat ~$6 coin price does not follow these bars.
3. What if the 2021 list price had tracked that index?
Start from each country’s 2021 local list price for the mid pack (not today’s listed price). Multiply by that country’s everyday-price multiplier since then. That is the “if tracked” column.
Gaps differ by country. In some places today’s listing still sits under that path, like a sticky Costco price. In others, today’s local list already moved past the path, so the what-if is not a free lunch.
| Country | Currency | Everyday prices ~since 2021 | 2021 list (local) | Today’s list (local) | If 2021 list tracked prices | Data note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brazil | BRL | 28.2% | 33.62 BRL | 30.55 BRL | 43.11 BRL | complete |
| United States | USD | 25.5% | 5.99 USD | 5.99 USD | 7.52 USD | complete |
| United Kingdom | GBP | 24.1% | 4.31 GBP | 4.45 GBP | 5.35 GBP | complete |
| Mexico | MXN | 21.6% | 123.93 MXN | 102.76 MXN | 150.72 MXN | complete |
| India | INR | 19.6% | 435.0 INR | 570.0 INR | 520.0 INR | complete |
| Australia | AUD | 19.3% | 7.75 AUD | 8.51 AUD | 9.25 AUD | complete |
| Germany | EUR | 18.7% | 5.03 EUR | 5.19 EUR | 5.97 EUR | complete |
| Canada | CAD | 17.1% | 7.47 CAD | 8.39 CAD | 8.75 CAD | complete |
| France | EUR | 13.8% | 5.03 EUR | 5.19 EUR | 5.73 EUR | complete |
| Indonesia | IDR | 13.3% | 86262 IDR | 106898 IDR | 97718 IDR | complete |
| Japan | JPY | 12.2% | 654 JPY | 948 JPY | 734 JPY | annual_chain |
| South Korea | KRW | 10.7% | 6794 KRW | 8482 KRW | 7521 KRW | ends_early |
Everyday-price multipliers come from named official all-items consumer price series (series IDs in How I calculated it / Sources). End dates differ: Korea ends earlier; Japan uses a yearly chain. “If tracked” = 2021 local list × multiplier, not today’s list × (1 + rise). Local pack spots are research listings, not a Microsoft sales export. Always check your store before buying.
After conversion, the same pack is about $6 in this panel. Official everyday prices rose unevenly (about 11% to 28%). That does not mean your store “should” charge less. It means the dollar match is sticky while local baskets are not.
This is not Microsoft “owing” anyone cheaper coins. Consumer price indexes are broad baskets, not a grocery bill or rent check. You may not have paid these exact archive numbers on every day. Check your store before buying.
Sources
- Locked country panel CSV + method note in this repo (
minecoin-intl-1020-panel-2026-08.csv,minecoin-intl-METHOD.json): 2021 local list bases, named CPI series, FX columns, and the if-tracked formula. - Official all-items consumer price series via FRED / national statistical agencies (series IDs in the CSV).
- Archived mid-pack store listings used for today’s local listed prices (research archive, not a Microsoft sales export).
- U.S. deep dive: Why do Minecoin pack prices feel like Costco’s hot dog?.
How I calculated it
Mid pack = 1,020 coins.
Today’s local list ÷ recent FX rate → implied U.S. dollars (about $5.99 everywhere in this panel).
Everyday-price rise = official all-items consumer price index (named per country in the locked panel; CPI / FRED series IDs in the CSV).
If tracked = local_base_2021 × cpi_multiplier.
It is not today’s list × (1 + CPI%).
Locked panel: articles/data/minecoin-intl-1020-panel-2026-08.csv + minecoin-intl-METHOD.json.
