$100 in 1991 is worth $152 in 2007,
because prices increased 52.2% over that period, an average of
2.66% a year.
$100 in 1991 has
the same buying power as
$152
in 2007
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
52.2%
Average inflation rate
2.66% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$152
Price difference ($100 base)
$52.23
CPI in 1991
136.2
CPI in 2007
207.342
Inflation in 1991
4.21%
Inflation in 2007
2.85%
$100 in 1991 → 2007
$152
$100 in 2007 → 1991
$65.69
What happened to prices between 1991 and 2007
Between 1991 and 2007, the Consumer Price Index went from 136.2 to 207.342.
Cumulatively, prices increased 52.2%, which works out to an average of
2.66% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1991 bought what
$0.66 buys in 2007: the 1991 dollar
lost 34.3% of its purchasing power over
these 16 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 2007 at the same ratio, 1.52: $1,000 becomes
$1,522, and $10,000 becomes $15,223.
Amount in 1991
Value in 2007
$1.00
$1.52
$5.00
$7.61
$10.00
$15.22
$20.00
$30.45
$50.00
$76.12
$100
$152
$500
$761
$1,000
$1,522
$5,000
$7,612
$10,000
$15,223
$100,000
$152,233
$1,000,000
$1,522,335
Inflation by spending category, 1991–2007
Between 1991 and 2007, energy rose the most, up 102.7%, while apparel fell 7.5%, against 52.2% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1991
spending costs in 2007, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1991 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.66%
$152
Energy
4.51%
$203
Medical care
4.37%
$198
Housing
2.85%
$157
Transportation
2.53%
$149
Food
2.52%
$149
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.49%
$148
Apparel
-0.49%
$92.46
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1991: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1991 to 2007
Prices climbed fastest in the 2000s, averaging 2.69% a year, and slowest in the 1990s (2.64% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1991–2007 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 1991, at end
1991–2000
2.64%
26.4%
$126
2000–2007
2.69%
20.4%
$152
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1991
$100 from 1991 had already become $122 by
1999, on its way to $152 in 2007; 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 2007, prices rose 2.8% and $100 from 1991 had the buying
power of $152; the year's average CPI of 207.342 is the level
behind every 2007 figure on this page.
Inflation was 2.8% in 2007, with gasoline averaging $2.80 a gallon, but the year is better
known for what began underneath prices. In August, French bank BNP Paribas froze funds tied to
U.S. subprime mortgages, and credit between banks tightened. The Federal Reserve responded with
a half-point cut on September 18, its first in four years, and took the policy rate from 5.25% to
4.25% by December. The economy peaked that month, by the National Bureau of Economic Research’s
dating, and the Great Recession followed. The median household earned about $50,200, and the
median new home cost $247,900. Congress ended the decade-long freeze on the federal minimum wage
in May, with the first of three steps to $5.85 in July. A first-class stamp cost 41 cents.
MLA: “Inflation from 1991 to 2007: $100 is worth $152 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1991-to-2007/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1991 to 2007. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1991-to-2007/