$100 in 1987 is worth $158 in 2002,
because prices increased 58.4% over that period, an average of
3.11% a year.
$100 in 1987 has
the same buying power as
$158
in 2002
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
58.4%
Average inflation rate
3.11% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$158
Price difference ($100 base)
$58.36
CPI in 1987
113.6
CPI in 2002
179.9
Inflation in 1987
3.65%
Inflation in 2002
1.58%
$100 in 1987 → 2002
$158
$100 in 2002 → 1987
$63.15
What happened to prices between 1987 and 2002
Between 1987 and 2002, the Consumer Price Index went from 113.6 to 179.9.
Cumulatively, prices increased 58.4%, which works out to an average of
3.11% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1987 bought what
$0.63 buys in 2002: the 1987 dollar
lost 36.9% of its purchasing power over
these 15 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 2002 at the same ratio, 1.58: $1,000 becomes
$1,584, and $10,000 becomes $15,836.
Amount in 1987
Value in 2002
$1.00
$1.58
$5.00
$7.92
$10.00
$15.84
$20.00
$31.67
$50.00
$79.18
$100
$158
$500
$792
$1,000
$1,584
$5,000
$7,918
$10,000
$15,836
$100,000
$158,363
$1,000,000
$1,583,627
Inflation by spending category, 1987–2002
Between 1987 and 2002, medical care rose the most, up 119.5%, while apparel rose the least, up 12.1%, against 58.4% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1987
spending costs in 2002, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1987 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.11%
$158
Medical care
5.38%
$220
Core (all items less food & energy)
3.23%
$161
Housing
3.09%
$158
Food
2.98%
$155
Transportation
2.51%
$145
Energy
2.14%
$137
Apparel
0.77%
$112
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1987: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1987 to 2002
Prices climbed fastest in the 1980s, averaging 4.78% a year, and slowest in the 2000s (2.21% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1987–2002 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 1987, at end
1987–1990
4.78%
15.1%
$115
1990–2000
2.80%
31.8%
$152
2000–2002
2.21%
4.5%
$158
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1987
$100 from 1987 had already become $130 by
1994, on its way to $158 in 2002; 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 2002, prices rose 1.6% and $100 from 1987 had the buying
power of $158; the year's average CPI of 179.9 is the level
behind every 2002 figure on this page.
The CPI rose 1.6% in 2002, the lowest annual rate of the decade so far, with gasoline down to an
average of $1.36 a gallon and slack in the labor market keeping wage pressure low. The median
household earned about $42,400, and a new home cost roughly $187,600, an increase of about 7%
from the year before as low mortgage rates began to lift housing. The Federal Reserve cut its
policy rate to 1.25% in November. Stocks were moving the other way: after the Enron and WorldCom
scandals, the S&P 500 hit its bear-market low on October 9, about 49% below its March 2000
peak, and Congress passed the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in July to tighten corporate accounting rules.
On January 1, euro banknotes and coins replaced national currencies in 12 European countries. A
first-class stamp rose to 37 cents in June, and the federal minimum wage stayed at $5.15.
MLA: “Inflation from 1987 to 2002: $100 is worth $158 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1987-to-2002/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1987 to 2002. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1987-to-2002/