$100 in 1990 is worth $125 in 1998,
because prices increased 24.7% over that period, an average of
2.80% a year.
$100 in 1990 has
the same buying power as
$125
in 1998
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
24.7%
Average inflation rate
2.80% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$125
Price difference ($100 base)
$24.71
CPI in 1990
130.7
CPI in 1998
163
Inflation in 1990
5.40%
Inflation in 1998
1.56%
$100 in 1990 → 1998
$125
$100 in 1998 → 1990
$80.18
What happened to prices between 1990 and 1998
Between 1990 and 1998, the Consumer Price Index went from 130.7 to 163.
Cumulatively, prices increased 24.7%, which works out to an average of
2.80% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1990 bought what
$0.80 buys in 1998: the 1990 dollar
lost 19.8% of its purchasing power over
these 8 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 1998 at the same ratio, 1.25: $1,000 becomes
$1,247, and $10,000 becomes $12,471.
Amount in 1990
Value in 1998
$1.00
$1.25
$5.00
$6.24
$10.00
$12.47
$20.00
$24.94
$50.00
$62.36
$100
$125
$500
$624
$1,000
$1,247
$5,000
$6,236
$10,000
$12,471
$100,000
$124,713
$1,000,000
$1,247,131
Inflation by spending category, 1990–1998
Between 1990 and 1998, medical care rose the most, up 48.7%, while energy rose the least, up 0.8%, against 24.7% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1990
spending costs in 1998, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1990 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.80%
$125
Medical care
5.09%
$149
Core (all items less food & energy)
3.13%
$128
Housing
2.81%
$125
Food
2.45%
$121
Transportation
2.04%
$118
Apparel
0.87%
$107
Energy
0.10%
$101
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 1990 had already become $113 by
1994, on its way to $125 in 1998; each row shows the CPI, that
year's inflation rate, and the running value.
Within the span, inflation peaked at 4.2% in 1991, and the smallest rise was 1.6% in 1998.
In 1998, prices rose 1.6% and $100 from 1990 had the buying
power of $125; the year's average CPI of 163 is the level
behind every 1998 figure on this page.
The median household earned about $38,900 in 1998, gas averaged just $1.06 a gallon, its
cheapest of the decade, and a new home cost roughly $152,500. Inflation ran at 1.6% for the
year, the lowest of the 1990s, as a glut of crude oil, worsened by weak demand from Asia’s
slowdown, pushed prices below $11 a barrel by December and pulled pump prices down with them.
The calm at home came alongside real turmoil abroad: in August, Russia devalued the ruble and
defaulted on its domestic debt, rattling markets already unsettled by the Asian financial
crisis, and in September the hedge fund Long-Term Capital Management collapsed after its highly
leveraged bets went bad, prompting the Federal Reserve to organize a private-sector bailout by
more than a dozen banks to prevent a disorderly unwinding of its roughly $100 billion in
positions. The Fed also cut interest rates three times that fall, in September, October, and
November, an insurance policy against the global financial turmoil spreading to the U.S.
economy. Cheap oil and a well-timed set of rate cuts left 1998 as a year the U.S. economy
absorbed two foreign financial crises without much of a dent at home.
MLA: “Inflation from 1990 to 1998: $100 is worth $125 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1990-to-1998/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1990 to 1998. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1990-to-1998/