$100 in 1988 is worth $122 in 1993,
because prices increased 22.1% over that period, an average of
4.08% a year.
$100 in 1988 has
the same buying power as
$122
in 1993
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
22.1%
Average inflation rate
4.08% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$122
Price difference ($100 base)
$22.15
CPI in 1988
118.3
CPI in 1993
144.5
Inflation in 1988
4.14%
Inflation in 1993
2.99%
$100 in 1988 → 1993
$122
$100 in 1993 → 1988
$81.87
What happened to prices between 1988 and 1993
Between 1988 and 1993, the Consumer Price Index went from 118.3 to 144.5.
Cumulatively, prices increased 22.1%, which works out to an average of
4.08% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1988 bought what
$0.82 buys in 1993: the 1988 dollar
lost 18.1% of its purchasing power over
these 5 years.
By 1988, the economic expansion that began in the ashes of the 1981-82
recession was in its sixth year, and the Federal Reserve was watching for
signs it had run too long. Inflation rose to 4.1%, up from 3.6% the year
before, while unemployment fell to its lowest level since 1974. Alan
Greenspan’s Fed responded by raising the federal funds rate through the
year, from about 6.5% to 8.5%, trying to cool demand before prices
accelerated the way they had in the 1970s. Households still felt the
difference between this expansion and the last one: gas held near 90 cents
a gallon, almost exactly its 1987 price, and median household income rose
to roughly $27,200. The one price that moved was postage, which rose from
22 to 25 cents in April, the fourth increase of the decade but a far
gentler pace than the string of increases in the late 1970s and early
1980s. In November, Vice President George H.W. Bush won the presidency on
the strength of the expansion, promising in his nomination speech to hold
the line on taxes. Both the boom and that pledge would run into trouble
within two years, as the Fed’s rate increases helped tip the economy toward
the 1990-91 recession.
Every 1988 amount converts to 1993 at the same ratio, 1.22: $1,000 becomes
$1,221, and $10,000 becomes $12,215.
Amount in 1988
Value in 1993
$1.00
$1.22
$5.00
$6.11
$10.00
$12.21
$20.00
$24.43
$50.00
$61.07
$100
$122
$500
$611
$1,000
$1,221
$5,000
$6,107
$10,000
$12,215
$100,000
$122,147
$1,000,000
$1,221,471
Inflation by spending category, 1988–1993
Between 1988 and 1993, medical care rose the most, up 45.3%, while apparel rose the least, up 15.9%, against 22.1% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1988
spending costs in 1993, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1988 →
All items (CPI-U)
4.08%
$122
Medical care
7.76%
$145
Core (all items less food & energy)
4.28%
$123
Transportation
3.71%
$120
Food
3.58%
$119
Housing
3.57%
$119
Energy
3.13%
$117
Apparel
2.99%
$116
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1988: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1988 to 1993
Prices climbed fastest in the 1980s, averaging 5.11% a year, and slowest in the 1990s (3.40% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1988–1993 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 1988, at end
1988–1990
5.11%
10.5%
$110
1990–1993
3.40%
10.6%
$122
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1988
$100 from 1988 had already become $110 by
1990, on its way to $122 in 1993; 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 3.0% in 1993.
In 1993, prices rose 3.0% and $100 from 1988 had the buying
power of $122; the year's average CPI of 144.5 is the level
behind every 1993 figure on this page.
By 1993, the median household earned about $31,200, gas averaged $1.11 a gallon, and a new home
cost roughly $126,500. Inflation ran at 3.0% for the year, holding close to where it had settled
the year before as the recovery slowly gathered strength. Washington spent much of the year on
two pieces of unfinished business from the recession: a deficit-reduction package, the Omnibus
Budget Reconciliation Act, that raised the top income tax rate to 39.6% to start narrowing a
budget gap left over from the 1980s, and a trade deal, the North American Free Trade Agreement,
that President Clinton signed into law in December after a contentious fight in Congress. NAFTA
phased out most tariffs between the U.S., Mexico, and Canada and took effect the following
January. The year’s other defining event had nothing to do with the economy: in February, a bomb
exploded in the World Trade Center’s parking garage, killing six people and injuring more than a
thousand. By year’s end, the pieces of the decade’s later economic story, freer trade, a
shrinking deficit, and inflation holding near 3%, were already in place.
MLA: “Inflation from 1988 to 1993: $100 is worth $122 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1988-to-1993/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1988 to 1993. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1988-to-1993/