$100 in 1991 is worth $143 in 2005,
because prices increased 43.4% over that period, an average of
2.61% a year.
$100 in 1991 has
the same buying power as
$143
in 2005
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
43.4%
Average inflation rate
2.61% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$143
Price difference ($100 base)
$43.39
CPI in 1991
136.2
CPI in 2005
195.3
Inflation in 1991
4.21%
Inflation in 2005
3.39%
$100 in 1991 → 2005
$143
$100 in 2005 → 1991
$69.74
What happened to prices between 1991 and 2005
Between 1991 and 2005, the Consumer Price Index went from 136.2 to 195.3.
Cumulatively, prices increased 43.4%, which works out to an average of
2.61% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1991 bought what
$0.70 buys in 2005: the 1991 dollar
lost 30.3% of its purchasing power over
these 14 years.
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.
Every 1991 amount converts to 2005 at the same ratio, 1.43: $1,000 becomes
$1,434, and $10,000 becomes $14,339.
Amount in 1991
Value in 2005
$1.00
$1.43
$5.00
$7.17
$10.00
$14.34
$20.00
$28.68
$50.00
$71.70
$100
$143
$500
$717
$1,000
$1,434
$5,000
$7,170
$10,000
$14,339
$100,000
$143,392
$1,000,000
$1,433,921
Inflation by spending category, 1991–2005
Between 1991 and 2005, medical care rose the most, up 82.6%, while apparel fell 7.1%, against 43.4% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1991
spending costs in 2005, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1991 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.61%
$143
Medical care
4.39%
$183
Energy
3.98%
$173
Housing
2.76%
$146
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.50%
$141
Transportation
2.46%
$140
Food
2.43%
$140
Apparel
-0.53%
$92.85
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1991: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1991 to 2005
Prices climbed fastest in the 1990s, averaging 2.64% a year, and slowest in the 2000s (2.55% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1991–2005 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 1991, at end
1991–2000
2.64%
26.4%
$126
2000–2005
2.55%
13.4%
$143
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1991
$100 from 1991 had already become $120 by
1998, on its way to $143 in 2005; each row shows the CPI, that
year's inflation rate, and the running value.
Within the span, inflation peaked at 3.4% in 2005, and the smallest rise was 1.6% in 1998.
In 2005, prices rose 3.4% and $100 from 1991 had the buying
power of $143; the year's average CPI of 195.3 is the level
behind every 2005 figure on this page.
Inflation rose to 3.4% in 2005, up from 2.7% in 2004, as gasoline averaged $2.30 a gallon,
compared with $1.88 the year before. Hurricane Katrina made landfall on August 29, and with
Hurricane Rita weeks later it disrupted Gulf Coast refining, pushing the national average
price past $3 in early September. The Federal Reserve raised its policy rate at every meeting,
from 2.25% to 4.25%, to keep energy costs from feeding into other prices. The median household
earned about $46,300, up 4.5% from 2004, but the median new home price rose a further 9%, to
$240,900. In April, Congress passed a bankruptcy law that made it harder to clear debts. A
first-class stamp stayed at 37 cents until January 2006, and the federal minimum wage stayed
at $5.15.
MLA: “Inflation from 1991 to 2005: $100 is worth $143 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1991-to-2005/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1991 to 2005. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1991-to-2005/