$100 in 1988 is worth $141 in 1999,
because prices increased 40.8% over that period, an average of
3.16% a year.
$100 in 1988 has
the same buying power as
$141
in 1999
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
40.8%
Average inflation rate
3.16% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$141
Price difference ($100 base)
$40.83
CPI in 1988
118.3
CPI in 1999
166.6
Inflation in 1988
4.14%
Inflation in 1999
2.21%
$100 in 1988 → 1999
$141
$100 in 1999 → 1988
$71.01
What happened to prices between 1988 and 1999
Between 1988 and 1999, the Consumer Price Index went from 118.3 to 166.6.
Cumulatively, prices increased 40.8%, which works out to an average of
3.16% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1988 bought what
$0.71 buys in 1999: the 1988 dollar
lost 29.0% of its purchasing power over
these 11 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 1999 at the same ratio, 1.41: $1,000 becomes
$1,408, and $10,000 becomes $14,083.
Amount in 1988
Value in 1999
$1.00
$1.41
$5.00
$7.04
$10.00
$14.08
$20.00
$28.17
$50.00
$70.41
$100
$141
$500
$704
$1,000
$1,408
$5,000
$7,041
$10,000
$14,083
$100,000
$140,828
$1,000,000
$1,408,284
Inflation by spending category, 1988–1999
Between 1988 and 1999, medical care rose the most, up 80.8%, while apparel rose the least, up 13.8%, against 40.8% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1988
spending costs in 1999, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1988 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.16%
$141
Medical care
5.53%
$181
Core (all items less food & energy)
3.33%
$143
Food
3.03%
$139
Housing
2.99%
$138
Transportation
2.62%
$133
Energy
1.62%
$119
Apparel
1.18%
$114
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1988: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1988 to 1999
Prices climbed fastest in the 1980s, averaging 5.11% a year, and slowest in the 1990s (2.73% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1988–1999 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 1988, at end
1988–1990
5.11%
10.5%
$110
1990–1999
2.73%
27.5%
$141
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1988
$100 from 1988 had already become $122 by
1993, on its way to $141 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 1988 had the buying
power of $141; 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 1988 to 1999: $100 is worth $141 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1988-to-1999/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1988 to 1999. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1988-to-1999/