Zambia · ZMW
The same story, told 3 ways: in ZMW, prices only rise. Measured in Bitcoin satoshis, the picture inverts. Each chart says what it is — observed data or a labeled model.
Plain arithmetic · 2021 → today
10% of one month's salary, converted once in 2021 = 100.4k sats — worth ~$64 today
1.9× in USD terms. Backward-looking arithmetic, not advice — the next 5 years are not the last 5.
01 · Prices in Zambia keep one direction
Observed · World Bank CPI
The official consumer price index rose 236% over the last decade — the ZMW buys steadily less of the same basket.
02 · One ZMW, measured in sats
Observed · FX snapshots × BTC closes
2026: 1 ZMW bought 89 sats. Today: 86. Log scale — the fall is the story.
03 · The same paycheck, in sats
Modelled · today’s salary held constant, BTC-only
Today's average net salary (537.8k sats/month) replayed across BTC's history. The model holds the salary constant — only Bitcoin moves — so this is the pure Bitcoin side of the story.
Go deeper: everything Zambia buys, in sats · where the ZMW ranks in the Fiat League · your own salary in sats
Sources: World Bank CPI (observed) · ECB/market FX snapshots (observed) · SatsAtlas BTC daily closes · The Economist Big Mac index where shown (observed, CC BY 4.0). The salary chart is a labeled model (constant salary, BTC-only).