$100 in 1988 is worth $152 in 2002,
because prices increased 52.1% over that period, an average of
3.04% a year.
$100 in 1988 has
the same buying power as
$152
in 2002
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
52.1%
Average inflation rate
3.04% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$152
Price difference ($100 base)
$52.07
CPI in 1988
118.3
CPI in 2002
179.9
Inflation in 1988
4.14%
Inflation in 2002
1.58%
$100 in 1988 → 2002
$152
$100 in 2002 → 1988
$65.76
What happened to prices between 1988 and 2002
Between 1988 and 2002, the Consumer Price Index went from 118.3 to 179.9.
Cumulatively, prices increased 52.1%, which works out to an average of
3.04% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1988 bought what
$0.66 buys in 2002: the 1988 dollar
lost 34.2% of its purchasing power over
these 14 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 2002 at the same ratio, 1.52: $1,000 becomes
$1,521, and $10,000 becomes $15,207.
Amount in 1988
Value in 2002
$1.00
$1.52
$5.00
$7.60
$10.00
$15.21
$20.00
$30.41
$50.00
$76.04
$100
$152
$500
$760
$1,000
$1,521
$5,000
$7,604
$10,000
$15,207
$100,000
$152,071
$1,000,000
$1,520,710
Inflation by spending category, 1988–2002
Between 1988 and 2002, medical care rose the most, up 106.1%, while apparel rose the least, up 7.5%, against 52.1% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1988
spending costs in 2002, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1988 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.04%
$152
Medical care
5.30%
$206
Core (all items less food & energy)
3.15%
$154
Housing
3.04%
$152
Food
2.89%
$149
Transportation
2.47%
$141
Energy
2.24%
$136
Apparel
0.51%
$107
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1988: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1988 to 2002
Prices climbed fastest in the 1980s, averaging 5.11% a year, and slowest in the 2000s (2.21% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1988–2002 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 1988, at end
1988–1990
5.11%
10.5%
$110
1990–2000
2.80%
31.8%
$146
2000–2002
2.21%
4.5%
$152
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1988
$100 from 1988 had already become $129 by
1995, on its way to $152 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 1988 had the buying
power of $152; 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 1988 to 2002: $100 is worth $152 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1988-to-2002/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1988 to 2002. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1988-to-2002/