$100 in 1987 is worth $202 in 2012,
because prices increased 102.1% over that period, an average of
2.85% a year.
$100 in 1987 has
the same buying power as
$202
in 2012
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
102.1%
Average inflation rate
2.85% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$202
Price difference ($100 base)
$102
CPI in 1987
113.6
CPI in 2012
229.594
Inflation in 1987
3.65%
Inflation in 2012
2.07%
$100 in 1987 → 2012
$202
$100 in 2012 → 1987
$49.48
What happened to prices between 1987 and 2012
Between 1987 and 2012, the Consumer Price Index went from 113.6 to 229.594.
Cumulatively, prices increased 102.1%, which works out to an average of
2.85% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1987 bought what
$0.49 buys in 2012: the 1987 dollar
lost 50.5% of its purchasing power over
these 25 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 2012 at the same ratio, 2.02: $1,000 becomes
$2,021, and $10,000 becomes $20,211.
Amount in 1987
Value in 2012
$1.00
$2.02
$5.00
$10.11
$10.00
$20.21
$20.00
$40.42
$50.00
$101
$100
$202
$500
$1,011
$1,000
$2,021
$5,000
$10,105
$10,000
$20,211
$100,000
$202,107
$1,000,000
$2,021,074
Inflation by spending category, 1987–2012
Between 1987 and 2012, medical care rose the most, up 218.9%, while apparel rose the least, up 14.2%, against 102.1% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1987
spending costs in 2012, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1987 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.85%
$202
Medical care
4.75%
$319
Energy
4.17%
$278
Transportation
2.94%
$206
Food
2.93%
$206
Housing
2.71%
$195
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.69%
$194
Apparel
0.53%
$114
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1987: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1987 to 2012
Prices climbed fastest in the 1980s, averaging 4.78% a year, and slowest in the 2000s (2.39% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1987–2012 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
2000–2010
2.39%
26.6%
$192
2010–2012
2.61%
5.3%
$202
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1987
$100 from 1987 had already become $147 by
1999, on its way to $202 in 2012; 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 prices fell 0.4% in 2009, the deepest deflation of the period.
In 2012, prices rose 2.1% and $100 from 1987 had the buying
power of $202; the year's average CPI of 229.594 is the level
behind every 2012 figure on this page.
2012 put a number on what the Federal Reserve was aiming for. In January the
Fed announced a 2% inflation target, and consumer prices rose 2.1% for the
year, almost exactly on it. Gasoline averaged $3.62 a gallon, another annual
high, but the pace of increase cooled from 2011’s 3.2% as food and core prices
grew more slowly.
The bigger story was housing and jobs. Home prices began to recover, and the
median new home sold for about $245,200, up from $227,200 the year before.
Median household income was $51,017. The federal minimum wage held at $7.25,
and a first-class stamp rose to 45 cents.
In September the Fed started a third round of asset purchases, this one with
no fixed end date, aimed at lowering unemployment. Overseas, the European
Central Bank’s July pledge to do “whatever it takes” to save the euro calmed
bond markets. A summer drought across the Midwest drove corn and soybean
prices to records, a shock that reached grocery shelves only partly, because
most of what shoppers pay for food covers processing and transport rather than
raw crops.
MLA: “Inflation from 1987 to 2012: $100 is worth $202 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1987-to-2012/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1987 to 2012. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1987-to-2012/