$100 in 1990 is worth $138 in 2002,
because prices increased 37.6% over that period, an average of
2.70% a year.
$100 in 1990 has
the same buying power as
$138
in 2002
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
37.6%
Average inflation rate
2.70% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$138
Price difference ($100 base)
$37.64
CPI in 1990
130.7
CPI in 2002
179.9
Inflation in 1990
5.40%
Inflation in 2002
1.58%
$100 in 1990 → 2002
$138
$100 in 2002 → 1990
$72.65
What happened to prices between 1990 and 2002
Between 1990 and 2002, the Consumer Price Index went from 130.7 to 179.9.
Cumulatively, prices increased 37.6%, which works out to an average of
2.70% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1990 bought what
$0.73 buys in 2002: the 1990 dollar
lost 27.3% of its purchasing power over
these 12 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 2002 at the same ratio, 1.38: $1,000 becomes
$1,376, and $10,000 becomes $13,764.
Amount in 1990
Value in 2002
$1.00
$1.38
$5.00
$6.88
$10.00
$13.76
$20.00
$27.53
$50.00
$68.82
$100
$138
$500
$688
$1,000
$1,376
$5,000
$6,882
$10,000
$13,764
$100,000
$137,643
$1,000,000
$1,376,435
Inflation by spending category, 1990–2002
Between 1990 and 2002, medical care rose the most, up 75.4%, while apparel fell 0.1%, against 37.6% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1990
spending costs in 2002, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1990 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.70%
$138
Medical care
4.80%
$175
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.88%
$141
Housing
2.86%
$140
Food
2.41%
$133
Transportation
2.00%
$127
Energy
1.47%
$119
Apparel
-0.01%
$99.92
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1990: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1990 to 2002
Prices climbed fastest in the 1990s, averaging 2.80% a year, and slowest in the 2000s (2.21% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1990–2002 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 1990, at end
1990–2000
2.80%
31.8%
$132
2000–2002
2.21%
4.5%
$138
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1990
$100 from 1990 had already become $120 by
1996, on its way to $138 in 2002; 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 2002, prices rose 1.6% and $100 from 1990 had the buying
power of $138; 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 1990 to 2002: $100 is worth $138 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1990-to-2002/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1990 to 2002. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1990-to-2002/