$100 in 1988 is worth $200 in 2014,
because prices increased 100.1% over that period, an average of
2.70% a year.
$100 in 1988 has
the same buying power as
$200
in 2014
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
100.1%
Average inflation rate
2.70% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$200
Price difference ($100 base)
$100
CPI in 1988
118.3
CPI in 2014
236.736
Inflation in 1988
4.14%
Inflation in 2014
1.62%
$100 in 1988 → 2014
$200
$100 in 2014 → 1988
$49.97
What happened to prices between 1988 and 2014
Between 1988 and 2014, the Consumer Price Index went from 118.3 to 236.736.
Cumulatively, prices increased 100.1%, which works out to an average of
2.70% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1988 bought what
$0.50 buys in 2014: the 1988 dollar
lost 50.0% of its purchasing power over
these 26 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 2014 at the same ratio, 2.00: $1,000 becomes
$2,001, and $10,000 becomes $20,011.
Amount in 1988
Value in 2014
$1.00
$2.00
$5.00
$10.01
$10.00
$20.01
$20.00
$40.02
$50.00
$100
$100
$200
$500
$1,001
$1,000
$2,001
$5,000
$10,006
$10,000
$20,011
$100,000
$200,115
$1,000,000
$2,001,150
Inflation by spending category, 1988–2014
Between 1988 and 2014, medical care rose the most, up 214.1%, while apparel rose the least, up 10.5%, against 100.1% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1988
spending costs in 2014, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1988 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.70%
$200
Medical care
4.50%
$314
Energy
3.93%
$273
Food
2.81%
$205
Transportation
2.68%
$199
Housing
2.64%
$197
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.56%
$193
Apparel
0.38%
$110
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1988: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1988 to 2014
Prices climbed fastest in the 1980s, averaging 5.11% a year, and slowest in the 2010s (2.08% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1988–2014 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
2000–2010
2.39%
26.6%
$184
2010–2014
2.08%
8.6%
$200
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1988
$100 from 1988 had already become $150 by
2001, on its way to $200 in 2014; 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 2014, prices rose 1.6% and $100 from 1988 had the buying
power of $200; the year's average CPI of 236.736 is the level
behind every 2014 figure on this page.
2014 ended with the sharpest oil price drop in years. Consumer prices rose
1.6% for the year, close to 2013’s pace, but the annual figure hid a shift at
the pump: crude oil fell from above $100 a barrel in June to below $60 in
December, and gasoline finished the year near $2.25 a gallon after averaging
$3.37 across 2014. The drop reflected record U.S. shale output, softer
global demand, and OPEC’s decision in November to keep producing.
For households, cheaper fuel arrived just as the labor market strengthened.
Median household income was $53,657, essentially flat on the prior year, and
the median new home sold for about $288,500. The federal minimum wage stayed
at $7.25 for a fifth year, and a first-class stamp rose to 49 cents.
The Federal Reserve ended its bond purchases in October but left its policy
rate at zero. A stronger dollar helped hold down import prices. Because
energy weighs heavily in the CPI, the late-year slide carried into 2015, which
posted the smallest annual increase of the decade.
MLA: “Inflation from 1988 to 2014: $100 is worth $200 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1988-to-2014/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1988 to 2014. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1988-to-2014/