$100 in 1988 is worth $156 in 2003,
because prices increased 55.5% over that period, an average of
2.99% a year.
$100 in 1988 has
the same buying power as
$156
in 2003
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
55.5%
Average inflation rate
2.99% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$156
Price difference ($100 base)
$55.54
CPI in 1988
118.3
CPI in 2003
184
Inflation in 1988
4.14%
Inflation in 2003
2.28%
$100 in 1988 → 2003
$156
$100 in 2003 → 1988
$64.29
What happened to prices between 1988 and 2003
Between 1988 and 2003, the Consumer Price Index went from 118.3 to 184.
Cumulatively, prices increased 55.5%, which works out to an average of
2.99% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1988 bought what
$0.64 buys in 2003: the 1988 dollar
lost 35.7% of its purchasing power over
these 15 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 2003 at the same ratio, 1.56: $1,000 becomes
$1,555, and $10,000 becomes $15,554.
Amount in 1988
Value in 2003
$1.00
$1.56
$5.00
$7.78
$10.00
$15.55
$20.00
$31.11
$50.00
$77.77
$100
$156
$500
$778
$1,000
$1,555
$5,000
$7,777
$10,000
$15,554
$100,000
$155,537
$1,000,000
$1,555,368
Inflation by spending category, 1988–2003
Between 1988 and 2003, medical care rose the most, up 114.4%, while apparel rose the least, up 4.8%, against 55.5% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1988
spending costs in 2003, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1988 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.99%
$156
Medical care
5.21%
$214
Core (all items less food & energy)
3.03%
$157
Housing
3.01%
$156
Energy
2.87%
$153
Food
2.84%
$152
Transportation
2.51%
$145
Apparel
0.31%
$105
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1988: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1988 to 2003
Prices climbed fastest in the 1980s, averaging 5.11% a year, and slowest in the 2000s (2.23% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1988–2003 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
2000–2003
2.23%
6.9%
$156
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1988
$100 from 1988 had already become $129 by
1995, on its way to $156 in 2003; 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 2003, prices rose 2.3% and $100 from 1988 had the buying
power of $156; the year's average CPI of 184 is the level
behind every 2003 figure on this page.
Inflation was 2.3% in 2003, up from 1.6% in 2002, as gasoline climbed from $1.36 to $1.59 a
gallon around the March invasion of Iraq. Even so, the Federal Reserve spent the year worried
about prices being too low: on June 25 it cut its policy rate to 1.0%, the lowest since 1958,
and said the risk of deflation, though small, deserved a response. The median household earned
about $43,300 and a new home cost roughly $195,000. Congress passed a second round of tax cuts
in May, and the economy grew faster in the second half of the year than at any point since
1999. Hiring lagged the recovery, and unemployment peaked at 6.3% in June. A first-class stamp
stayed at 37 cents and the federal minimum wage at $5.15.
MLA: “Inflation from 1988 to 2003: $100 is worth $156 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1988-to-2003/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1988 to 2003. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1988-to-2003/