$100 in 1987 is worth $143 in 1998,
because prices increased 43.5% over that period, an average of
3.34% a year.
$100 in 1987 has
the same buying power as
$143
in 1998
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
43.5%
Average inflation rate
3.34% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$143
Price difference ($100 base)
$43.49
CPI in 1987
113.6
CPI in 1998
163
Inflation in 1987
3.65%
Inflation in 1998
1.56%
$100 in 1987 → 1998
$143
$100 in 1998 → 1987
$69.69
What happened to prices between 1987 and 1998
Between 1987 and 1998, the Consumer Price Index went from 113.6 to 163.
Cumulatively, prices increased 43.5%, which works out to an average of
3.34% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1987 bought what
$0.70 buys in 1998: the 1987 dollar
lost 30.3% of its purchasing power over
these 11 years.
1987 tested whether the disinflation of the 1980s could survive its first
real shock. Paul Volcker, who had run the Federal Reserve since 1979 and
driven inflation down from 13.5% to routine mid-single digits, handed the
chairmanship to Alan Greenspan in August. Inflation for the year came in at
3.6%, edging up as the expansion entered its fifth year and a weaker
dollar, following 1985’s Plaza Accord, pushed up the price of imported
goods. Then, on October 19, the stock market delivered Greenspan’s first
crisis: the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 22.6% in a single session,
still the largest one-day percentage drop in its history, as computer-driven
“portfolio insurance” trading amplified a global sell-off that had started
days earlier. The Fed responded within 24 hours, publicly pledging to
supply whatever liquidity the banking system needed, and the panic did not
spread to the broader economy. Growth continued and unemployment kept
falling through the rest of the year. It was an early demonstration of what
became known as the “Greenspan put,” a Fed willing to move fast and loosen
policy to contain financial shocks even while still watching inflation,
that shaped central banking for the next two decades.
Every 1987 amount converts to 1998 at the same ratio, 1.43: $1,000 becomes
$1,435, and $10,000 becomes $14,349.
Amount in 1987
Value in 1998
$1.00
$1.43
$5.00
$7.17
$10.00
$14.35
$20.00
$28.70
$50.00
$71.74
$100
$143
$500
$717
$1,000
$1,435
$5,000
$7,174
$10,000
$14,349
$100,000
$143,486
$1,000,000
$1,434,859
Inflation by spending category, 1987–1998
Between 1987 and 1998, medical care rose the most, up 86.1%, while energy rose the least, up 16.1%, against 43.5% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1987
spending costs in 1998, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1987 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.34%
$143
Medical care
5.81%
$186
Core (all items less food & energy)
3.55%
$147
Food
3.21%
$142
Housing
3.14%
$140
Transportation
2.72%
$134
Apparel
1.69%
$120
Energy
1.37%
$116
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1987: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1987 to 1998
Prices climbed fastest in the 1980s, averaging 4.78% a year, and slowest in the 1990s (2.80% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1987–1998 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 1987, at end
1987–1990
4.78%
15.1%
$115
1990–1998
2.80%
24.7%
$143
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1987
$100 from 1987 had already become $124 by
1992, on its way to $143 in 1998; each row shows the CPI, that
year's inflation rate, and the running value.
Within the span, inflation peaked at 5.4% in 1990, and the smallest rise was 1.6% in 1998.
In 1998, prices rose 1.6% and $100 from 1987 had the buying
power of $143; the year's average CPI of 163 is the level
behind every 1998 figure on this page.
The median household earned about $38,900 in 1998, gas averaged just $1.06 a gallon, its
cheapest of the decade, and a new home cost roughly $152,500. Inflation ran at 1.6% for the
year, the lowest of the 1990s, as a glut of crude oil, worsened by weak demand from Asia’s
slowdown, pushed prices below $11 a barrel by December and pulled pump prices down with them.
The calm at home came alongside real turmoil abroad: in August, Russia devalued the ruble and
defaulted on its domestic debt, rattling markets already unsettled by the Asian financial
crisis, and in September the hedge fund Long-Term Capital Management collapsed after its highly
leveraged bets went bad, prompting the Federal Reserve to organize a private-sector bailout by
more than a dozen banks to prevent a disorderly unwinding of its roughly $100 billion in
positions. The Fed also cut interest rates three times that fall, in September, October, and
November, an insurance policy against the global financial turmoil spreading to the U.S.
economy. Cheap oil and a well-timed set of rate cuts left 1998 as a year the U.S. economy
absorbed two foreign financial crises without much of a dent at home.
MLA: “Inflation from 1987 to 1998: $100 is worth $143 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1987-to-1998/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1987 to 1998. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1987-to-1998/