$100 in 1990 is worth $104 in 1991,
because prices increased 4.2% over that period, an average of
4.21% a year.
$100 in 1990 has
the same buying power as
$104
in 1991
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
4.2%
Average inflation rate
4.21% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$104
Price difference ($100 base)
$4.21
CPI in 1990
130.7
CPI in 1991
136.2
Inflation in 1990
5.40%
Inflation in 1991
4.21%
$100 in 1990 → 1991
$104
$100 in 1991 → 1990
$95.96
What happened to prices between 1990 and 1991
Between 1990 and 1991, the Consumer Price Index went from 130.7 to 136.2.
Cumulatively, prices increased 4.2%, which works out to an average of
4.21% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1990 bought what
$0.96 buys in 1991: the 1990 dollar
lost 4.0% of its purchasing power over
these 1 years.
In 1990, the median U.S. household earned about $29,900, gas averaged $1.15 a
gallon, and mailing a letter cost a quarter. Inflation ran hot at 5.4% for the
year, its highest rate since 1982, pushed up by an oil shock after Iraq’s
invasion of Kuwait, and the economy tipped into recession that summer. It was
the last gasp of elevated inflation before the long calm of the 1990s.
Every 1990 amount converts to 1991 at the same ratio, 1.04: $1,000 becomes
$1,042, and $10,000 becomes $10,421.
Amount in 1990
Value in 1991
$1.00
$1.04
$5.00
$5.21
$10.00
$10.42
$20.00
$20.84
$50.00
$52.10
$100
$104
$500
$521
$1,000
$1,042
$5,000
$5,210
$10,000
$10,421
$100,000
$104,208
$1,000,000
$1,042,081
Inflation by spending category, 1990–1991
Between 1990 and 1991, medical care rose the most, up 8.7%, while energy rose the least, up 0.4%, against 4.2% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1990
spending costs in 1991, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1990 →
All items (CPI-U)
4.21%
$104
Medical care
8.72%
$109
Core (all items less food & energy)
4.87%
$105
Housing
3.97%
$104
Apparel
3.71%
$104
Food
2.95%
$103
Transportation
2.74%
$103
Energy
0.39%
$100
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1990: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1990
$100 from 1990grew to $104 by 1991; each row
shows the CPI, that year's inflation rate, and the running value.
In 1991, prices rose 4.2% and $100 from 1990 had the buying
power of $104; the year's average CPI of 136.2 is the level
behind every 1991 figure on this page.
1991 opened in recession and closed in a slow, uneven recovery. The median household earned
about $30,100 for the year, gas averaged $1.14 a gallon, and a new home cost roughly $120,000.
Inflation ran at 4.2% for the year, down from 1990’s oil-driven spike, as the Gulf War ended in
February and crude oil retreated from its autumn highs. The recession itself, dated by the
National Bureau of Economic Research from July 1990 to March 1991, was technically over by
spring, but hiring stayed weak well into 1992, the stretch economists came to call the jobless
recovery. The Federal Reserve kept cutting interest rates through the year to support growth,
reversing the tightening campaign it had run through the late 1980s. In April the federal
minimum wage rose to $4.25 an hour, the second step of an increase from the $3.35 rate that had
held since 1981. The Postal Service had already raised the cost of a first-class stamp to 29
cents that February. It was the first full year of the decade without an oil shock driving
prices, even if the job market took longer to follow.
MLA: “Inflation from 1990 to 1991: $100 is worth $104 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1990-to-1991/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1990 to 1991. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1990-to-1991/