$100 in 1993 is worth $149 in 2008,
because prices increased 49.0% over that period, an average of
2.69% a year.
$100 in 1993 has
the same buying power as
$149
in 2008
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
49.0%
Average inflation rate
2.69% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$149
Price difference ($100 base)
$49.00
CPI in 1993
144.5
CPI in 2008
215.303
Inflation in 1993
2.99%
Inflation in 2008
3.84%
$100 in 1993 → 2008
$149
$100 in 2008 → 1993
$67.11
What happened to prices between 1993 and 2008
Between 1993 and 2008, the Consumer Price Index went from 144.5 to 215.303.
Cumulatively, prices increased 49.0%, which works out to an average of
2.69% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1993 bought what
$0.67 buys in 2008: the 1993 dollar
lost 32.9% of its purchasing power over
these 15 years.
By 1993, the median household earned about $31,200, gas averaged $1.11 a gallon, and a new home
cost roughly $126,500. Inflation ran at 3.0% for the year, holding close to where it had settled
the year before as the recovery slowly gathered strength. Washington spent much of the year on
two pieces of unfinished business from the recession: a deficit-reduction package, the Omnibus
Budget Reconciliation Act, that raised the top income tax rate to 39.6% to start narrowing a
budget gap left over from the 1980s, and a trade deal, the North American Free Trade Agreement,
that President Clinton signed into law in December after a contentious fight in Congress. NAFTA
phased out most tariffs between the U.S., Mexico, and Canada and took effect the following
January. The year’s other defining event had nothing to do with the economy: in February, a bomb
exploded in the World Trade Center’s parking garage, killing six people and injuring more than a
thousand. By year’s end, the pieces of the decade’s later economic story, freer trade, a
shrinking deficit, and inflation holding near 3%, were already in place.
Every 1993 amount converts to 2008 at the same ratio, 1.49: $1,000 becomes
$1,490, and $10,000 becomes $14,900.
Amount in 1993
Value in 2008
$1.00
$1.49
$5.00
$7.45
$10.00
$14.90
$20.00
$29.80
$50.00
$74.50
$100
$149
$500
$745
$1,000
$1,490
$5,000
$7,450
$10,000
$14,900
$100,000
$148,999
$1,000,000
$1,489,986
Inflation by spending category, 1993–2008
Between 1993 and 2008, energy rose the most, up 127.1%, while apparel fell 11.1%, against 49.0% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1993
spending costs in 2008, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1993 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.69%
$149
Energy
5.62%
$227
Medical care
4.03%
$181
Housing
2.88%
$153
Food
2.83%
$152
Transportation
2.74%
$150
Education & communication
2.49%
$145
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.35%
$142
Recreation
1.49%
$125
Apparel
-0.78%
$88.94
Decade by decade: 1993 to 2008
Prices climbed fastest in the 2000s, averaging 2.83% a year, and slowest in the 1990s (2.54% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1993–2008 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 1993, at end
1993–2000
2.54%
19.2%
$119
2000–2008
2.83%
25.0%
$149
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1993
$100 from 1993 had already become $119 by
2000, on its way to $149 in 2008; each row shows the CPI, that
year's inflation rate, and the running value.
Within the span, inflation peaked at 3.8% in 2008, and the smallest rise was 1.6% in 1998.
In 2008, prices rose 3.8% and $100 from 1993 had the buying
power of $149; the year's average CPI of 215.303 is the level
behind every 2008 figure on this page.
Inflation averaged 3.8% in 2008, but that figure hides a swing. The 12-month rate reached 5.6% in
July, when oil hit $147 a barrel and gasoline passed $4 a gallon, then fell to 0.1% by December
as crude dropped near $40. For the year, gas averaged $3.27, the highest yet. The financial
system broke in the fall: Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy on September 15, Congress
created the $700 billion TARP bank rescue on October 3, and the Federal Reserve cut its policy
rate to a range of 0–0.25% in December. The median household earned about $50,300, barely
above 2007, and the median new home price fell to $232,100. The minimum wage rose to $6.55 in
July, and a first-class stamp cost 42 cents. The price collapse at the end of 2008 set up the
deflation of 2009.
MLA: “Inflation from 1993 to 2008: $100 is worth $149 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1993-to-2008/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1993 to 2008. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1993-to-2008/