$100 in 1921 is worth $76.54 in 1932,
because prices declined 23.5% over that period, an average of
2.40% a year.
$100 in 1921 has
the same buying power as
$76.54
in 1932
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
-23.5%
Average inflation rate
-2.40% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$76.54
Price difference ($100 base)
-$23.46
CPI in 1921
17.9
CPI in 1932
13.7
Inflation in 1921
-10.50%
Inflation in 1932
-9.87%
$100 in 1921 → 1932
$76.54
$100 in 1932 → 1921
$131
What happened to prices between 1921 and 1932
Between 1921 and 1932, the Consumer Price Index went from 17.9 to 13.7.
Cumulatively, prices declined 23.5%, which works out to an average of
-2.40% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1921 bought what
$1.31 buys in 1932: the 1921 dollar
gained 30.7% in purchasing power over
these 11 years.
Consumer prices fell 10.5% in 1921, the mirror image of the wartime
inflation that had more than doubled the cost of living between
1913 and 1920. The Depression of 1920-21, one
of the sharpest contractions in U.S. history, bottomed out that July
according to the National Bureau of Economic Research, even though it had
lasted barely eighteen months. Unemployment climbed toward one worker in ten
as businesses cut production and prices to work through wartime inventories,
but the same collapse in prices also meant the recovery, once it started,
had room to run without reigniting inflation. Warren Harding took office
March 4, promising a return to “normalcy” after a decade of war, pandemic,
labor unrest, and rapid price swings; his administration moved quickly to
cut top income tax rates and federal spending. Congress also acted on
immigration that year: the Emergency Quota Act, signed May 19, capped annual
arrivals from each country at 3% of that nationality’s population in the
1910 census, the first time the United States had set a numerical ceiling on
immigration. The law favored northern and western Europe and cut total
immigration by more than half compared with prewar levels; Congress
tightened the formula again in 1924. First-class postage held at 2 cents,
unchanged since mid-1919.
Every 1921 amount converts to 1932 at the same ratio, 0.77: $1,000 becomes
$765, and $10,000 becomes $7,654.
Amount in 1921
Value in 1932
$1.00
$0.77
$5.00
$3.83
$10.00
$7.65
$20.00
$15.31
$50.00
$38.27
$100
$76.54
$500
$383
$1,000
$765
$5,000
$3,827
$10,000
$7,654
$100,000
$76,536
$1,000,000
$765,363
Inflation by spending category, 1921–1932
Every category fell between 1921 and 1932: apparel the most, down 41.3%, and food the least, down 32.7%. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1921
spending costs in 1932, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1921 →
All items (CPI-U)
-2.40%
$76.54
Food
-3.54%
$67.30
Apparel
-4.72%
$58.73
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1921: core (all items less food & energy) (1957–), energy (1957–), housing (1967–), medical care (1935–), transportation (1935–), recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1921 to 1932
Prices fell throughout this span: most slowly in the 1920s (0.8% a year) and fastest in the 1930s (9.4% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1921–1932 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 1921, at end
1921–1930
-0.77%
-6.7%
$93.30
1930–1932
-9.43%
-18.0%
$76.54
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1921
$100 from 1921 had already become $98.88 by
1926, on its way to $76.54 in 1932; each row shows the CPI, that
year's inflation rate, and the running value.
Within the span, inflation peaked at 2.3% in 1925, and prices fell 9.9% in 1932, the deepest deflation of the period.
In 1932, prices fell 9.9% and $100 from 1921 had the buying
power of $76.54; the year's average CPI of 13.7 is the level
behind every 1932 figure on this page.
Consumer prices fell 9.9% in 1932, the steepest single-year drop in the
CPI’s history to that point and the third straight year of decline following
1930 and 1931. Wages, farm incomes, and
industrial output all kept falling, and Congress tried to arrest the credit
collapse by creating the Reconstruction Finance Corporation that January,
capitalized at $500 million with authority to borrow up to $1.5 billion to
lend directly to banks, railroads, and other struggling businesses. Relief
did not reach ordinary households as quickly. That summer, tens of thousands
of World War I veterans and their families camped in Washington demanding
early payment of a service bonus not due until 1945; in July, U.S. Army
troops under General Douglas MacArthur forcibly dispersed the encampment, an
episode that badly damaged the Hoover administration’s standing months
before an election it was already losing. Voters delivered their verdict on
November 8, electing Franklin D. Roosevelt in a landslide over the
incumbent Hoover on a promise of relief and a “new deal for the American
people.” Roosevelt would not take office until the following March, leaving
a long and difficult transition during the depths of the crisis. First-class
postage rose from 2 cents to 3 cents on July 6, the first change to the rate
since 1919.
MLA: “Inflation from 1921 to 1932: $100 is worth $76.54 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1921-to-1932/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1921 to 1932. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1921-to-1932/