$100 in 1987 is worth $147 in 1999,
because prices increased 46.7% over that period, an average of
3.24% a year.
$100 in 1987 has
the same buying power as
$147
in 1999
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
46.7%
Average inflation rate
3.24% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$147
Price difference ($100 base)
$46.65
CPI in 1987
113.6
CPI in 1999
166.6
Inflation in 1987
3.65%
Inflation in 1999
2.21%
$100 in 1987 → 1999
$147
$100 in 1999 → 1987
$68.19
What happened to prices between 1987 and 1999
Between 1987 and 1999, the Consumer Price Index went from 113.6 to 166.6.
Cumulatively, prices increased 46.7%, which works out to an average of
3.24% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1987 bought what
$0.68 buys in 1999: the 1987 dollar
lost 31.8% of its purchasing power over
these 12 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 1999 at the same ratio, 1.47: $1,000 becomes
$1,467, and $10,000 becomes $14,665.
Amount in 1987
Value in 1999
$1.00
$1.47
$5.00
$7.33
$10.00
$14.67
$20.00
$29.33
$50.00
$73.33
$100
$147
$500
$733
$1,000
$1,467
$5,000
$7,333
$10,000
$14,665
$100,000
$146,655
$1,000,000
$1,466,549
Inflation by spending category, 1987–1999
Between 1987 and 1999, medical care rose the most, up 92.6%, while apparel rose the least, up 18.7%, against 46.7% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1987
spending costs in 1999, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1987 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.24%
$147
Medical care
5.61%
$193
Core (all items less food & energy)
3.42%
$150
Food
3.12%
$145
Housing
3.06%
$144
Transportation
2.66%
$137
Energy
1.55%
$120
Apparel
1.44%
$119
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1987: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1987 to 1999
Prices climbed fastest in the 1980s, averaging 4.78% a year, and slowest in the 1990s (2.73% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1987–1999 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 1987, at end
1987–1990
4.78%
15.1%
$115
1990–1999
2.73%
27.5%
$147
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1987
$100 from 1987 had already become $127 by
1993, on its way to $147 in 1999; 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 1999, prices rose 2.2% and $100 from 1987 had the buying
power of $147; the year's average CPI of 166.6 is the level
behind every 1999 figure on this page.
The median household earned about $40,700 in 1999, gas averaged $1.17 a gallon, and a new home
cost roughly $161,000. Inflation ran at 2.2% for the year, ticking back up from 1998’s decade low
as oil prices recovered from their collapse. The decade closed with two changes to the financial
system that would shape the one after it: on January 1, the euro launched as an accounting
currency across 11 European countries, trading alongside national currencies like the French
franc and German mark ahead of physical cash in 2002, and in November, Congress passed the
Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, tearing down the Depression-era wall between commercial banks, investment
banks, and insurers. Stock markets, meanwhile, were absorbed in a boom of their own: the Nasdaq
surged through the year on soaring internet-stock valuations, and the Federal Reserve raised
interest rates three times in the second half of 1999 partly to cool the exuberance, even as it
pumped extra liquidity into the banking system to guard against any disruption from the Y2K
rollover. A first-class stamp cost 33 cents. Inflation had spent the decade falling from 1990’s
5.4% peak to averages closer to 2-3%, and 1999 closed it out almost exactly where the 1990s as a
whole had settled.
MLA: “Inflation from 1987 to 1999: $100 is worth $147 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1987-to-1999/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1987 to 1999. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1987-to-1999/