$100 in 1987 is worth $183 in 2007,
because prices increased 82.5% over that period, an average of
3.05% a year.
$100 in 1987 has
the same buying power as
$183
in 2007
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
82.5%
Average inflation rate
3.05% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$183
Price difference ($100 base)
$82.52
CPI in 1987
113.6
CPI in 2007
207.342
Inflation in 1987
3.65%
Inflation in 2007
2.85%
$100 in 1987 → 2007
$183
$100 in 2007 → 1987
$54.79
What happened to prices between 1987 and 2007
Between 1987 and 2007, the Consumer Price Index went from 113.6 to 207.342.
Cumulatively, prices increased 82.5%, which works out to an average of
3.05% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1987 bought what
$0.55 buys in 2007: the 1987 dollar
lost 45.2% of its purchasing power over
these 20 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 2007 at the same ratio, 1.83: $1,000 becomes
$1,825, and $10,000 becomes $18,252.
Amount in 1987
Value in 2007
$1.00
$1.83
$5.00
$9.13
$10.00
$18.25
$20.00
$36.50
$50.00
$91.26
$100
$183
$500
$913
$1,000
$1,825
$5,000
$9,126
$10,000
$18,252
$100,000
$182,519
$1,000,000
$1,825,194
Inflation by spending category, 1987–2007
Between 1987 and 2007, medical care rose the most, up 169.8%, while apparel rose the least, up 7.6%, against 82.5% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1987
spending costs in 2007, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1987 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.05%
$183
Medical care
5.09%
$270
Energy
4.35%
$234
Housing
3.08%
$184
Food
2.95%
$179
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.93%
$178
Transportation
2.84%
$175
Apparel
0.37%
$108
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1987: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1987 to 2007
Prices climbed fastest in the 1980s, averaging 4.78% a year, and slowest in the 2000s (2.69% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1987–2007 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
2000–2007
2.69%
20.4%
$183
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1987
$100 from 1987 had already become $141 by
1997, on its way to $183 in 2007; 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 2007, prices rose 2.8% and $100 from 1987 had the buying
power of $183; the year's average CPI of 207.342 is the level
behind every 2007 figure on this page.
Inflation was 2.8% in 2007, with gasoline averaging $2.80 a gallon, but the year is better
known for what began underneath prices. In August, French bank BNP Paribas froze funds tied to
U.S. subprime mortgages, and credit between banks tightened. The Federal Reserve responded with
a half-point cut on September 18, its first in four years, and took the policy rate from 5.25% to
4.25% by December. The economy peaked that month, by the National Bureau of Economic Research’s
dating, and the Great Recession followed. The median household earned about $50,200, and the
median new home cost $247,900. Congress ended the decade-long freeze on the federal minimum wage
in May, with the first of three steps to $5.85 in July. A first-class stamp cost 41 cents.
MLA: “Inflation from 1987 to 2007: $100 is worth $183 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1987-to-2007/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1987 to 2007. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1987-to-2007/