$100 in 1995 is worth $121 in 2003,
because prices increased 20.7% over that period, an average of
2.38% a year.
$100 in 1995 has
the same buying power as
$121
in 2003
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
20.7%
Average inflation rate
2.38% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$121
Price difference ($100 base)
$20.73
CPI in 1995
152.4
CPI in 2003
184
Inflation in 1995
2.83%
Inflation in 2003
2.28%
$100 in 1995 → 2003
$121
$100 in 2003 → 1995
$82.83
What happened to prices between 1995 and 2003
Between 1995 and 2003, the Consumer Price Index went from 152.4 to 184.
Cumulatively, prices increased 20.7%, which works out to an average of
2.38% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1995 bought what
$0.83 buys in 2003: the 1995 dollar
lost 17.2% of its purchasing power over
these 8 years.
In 1995, gas averaged $1.15 a gallon, a new home cost roughly $133,900, and the median household
earned about $34,100. Inflation ran at 2.8% for the year, little changed from 1994, as the
Federal Reserve shifted from raising rates to cutting them. Having lifted its policy rate six
times the year before, the Fed judged by July that the economy had cooled enough on its own, and
trimmed rates instead, an outcome economists would later point to as a rare soft landing. The
year opened with a currency crisis: Mexico’s peso lost roughly half its value against the dollar
in a matter of weeks, and the U.S. Treasury and the IMF assembled a $50 billion rescue package,
controversial in Congress, to stabilize it and keep the crisis from spreading to other emerging
markets. Closer to home, a budget standoff between President Clinton and the Republican Congress
shut down federal agencies twice, first for five days in November and then for 21 days spanning
December into January 1996, the longest shutdown up to that point. The Postal Service raised the
cost of a first-class stamp to 32 cents in January. Low, steady inflation was about the only calm
part of 1995’s economic story.
Every 1995 amount converts to 2003 at the same ratio, 1.21: $1,000 becomes
$1,207, and $10,000 becomes $12,073.
Amount in 1995
Value in 2003
$1.00
$1.21
$5.00
$6.04
$10.00
$12.07
$20.00
$24.15
$50.00
$60.37
$100
$121
$500
$604
$1,000
$1,207
$5,000
$6,037
$10,000
$12,073
$100,000
$120,735
$1,000,000
$1,207,349
Inflation by spending category, 1995–2003
Between 1995 and 2003, medical care rose the most, up 34.7%, while apparel fell 8.4%, against 20.7% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1995
spending costs in 2003, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1995 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.38%
$121
Medical care
3.80%
$135
Energy
3.31%
$130
Housing
2.77%
$124
Food
2.44%
$121
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.29%
$120
Education & communication
2.21%
$119
Recreation
1.62%
$114
Transportation
1.57%
$113
Apparel
-1.09%
$91.59
Decade by decade: 1995 to 2003
Prices climbed fastest in the 1990s, averaging 2.47% a year, and slowest in the 2000s (2.23% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1995–2003 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 1995, at end
1995–2000
2.47%
13.0%
$113
2000–2003
2.23%
6.9%
$121
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1995
$100 from 1995 had already become $109 by
1999, on its way to $121 in 2003; each row shows the CPI, that
year's inflation rate, and the running value.
Within the span, inflation peaked at 3.4% in 2000, and the smallest rise was 1.6% in 1998.
In 2003, prices rose 2.3% and $100 from 1995 had the buying
power of $121; the year's average CPI of 184 is the level
behind every 2003 figure on this page.
Inflation was 2.3% in 2003, up from 1.6% in 2002, as gasoline climbed from $1.36 to $1.59 a
gallon around the March invasion of Iraq. Even so, the Federal Reserve spent the year worried
about prices being too low: on June 25 it cut its policy rate to 1.0%, the lowest since 1958,
and said the risk of deflation, though small, deserved a response. The median household earned
about $43,300 and a new home cost roughly $195,000. Congress passed a second round of tax cuts
in May, and the economy grew faster in the second half of the year than at any point since
1999. Hiring lagged the recovery, and unemployment peaked at 6.3% in June. A first-class stamp
stayed at 37 cents and the federal minimum wage at $5.15.
MLA: “Inflation from 1995 to 2003: $100 is worth $121 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1995-to-2003/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1995 to 2003. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1995-to-2003/