$100 in 1998 is worth $102 in 1999,
because prices increased 2.2% over that period, an average of
2.21% a year.
$100 in 1998 has
the same buying power as
$102
in 1999
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
2.2%
Average inflation rate
2.21% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$102
Price difference ($100 base)
$2.21
CPI in 1998
163
CPI in 1999
166.6
Inflation in 1998
1.56%
Inflation in 1999
2.21%
$100 in 1998 → 1999
$102
$100 in 1999 → 1998
$97.84
What happened to prices between 1998 and 1999
Between 1998 and 1999, the Consumer Price Index went from 163 to 166.6.
Cumulatively, prices increased 2.2%, which works out to an average of
2.21% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1998 bought what
$0.98 buys in 1999: the 1998 dollar
lost 2.2% of its purchasing power over
these 1 years.
The median household earned about $38,900 in 1998, gas averaged just $1.06 a gallon, its
cheapest of the decade, and a new home cost roughly $152,500. Inflation ran at 1.6% for the
year, the lowest of the 1990s, as a glut of crude oil, worsened by weak demand from Asia’s
slowdown, pushed prices below $11 a barrel by December and pulled pump prices down with them.
The calm at home came alongside real turmoil abroad: in August, Russia devalued the ruble and
defaulted on its domestic debt, rattling markets already unsettled by the Asian financial
crisis, and in September the hedge fund Long-Term Capital Management collapsed after its highly
leveraged bets went bad, prompting the Federal Reserve to organize a private-sector bailout by
more than a dozen banks to prevent a disorderly unwinding of its roughly $100 billion in
positions. The Fed also cut interest rates three times that fall, in September, October, and
November, an insurance policy against the global financial turmoil spreading to the U.S.
economy. Cheap oil and a well-timed set of rate cuts left 1998 as a year the U.S. economy
absorbed two foreign financial crises without much of a dent at home.
Every 1998 amount converts to 1999 at the same ratio, 1.02: $1,000 becomes
$1,022, and $10,000 becomes $10,221.
Amount in 1998
Value in 1999
$1.00
$1.02
$5.00
$5.11
$10.00
$10.22
$20.00
$20.44
$50.00
$51.10
$100
$102
$500
$511
$1,000
$1,022
$5,000
$5,110
$10,000
$10,221
$100,000
$102,209
$1,000,000
$1,022,086
Inflation by spending category, 1998–1999
Between 1998 and 1999, energy rose the most, up 3.6%, while apparel fell 1.3%, against 2.2% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1998
spending costs in 1999, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1998 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.21%
$102
Energy
3.60%
$104
Medical care
3.51%
$104
Housing
2.18%
$102
Food
2.12%
$102
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.08%
$102
Transportation
1.98%
$102
Education & communication
0.90%
$101
Recreation
0.89%
$101
Apparel
-1.28%
$98.72
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1998
$100 from 1998grew to $102 by 1999; each row
shows the CPI, that year's inflation rate, and the running value.
In 1999, prices rose 2.2% and $100 from 1998 had the buying
power of $102; the year's average CPI of 166.6 is the level
behind every 1999 figure on this page.
The median household earned about $40,700 in 1999, gas averaged $1.17 a gallon, and a new home
cost roughly $161,000. Inflation ran at 2.2% for the year, ticking back up from 1998’s decade low
as oil prices recovered from their collapse. The decade closed with two changes to the financial
system that would shape the one after it: on January 1, the euro launched as an accounting
currency across 11 European countries, trading alongside national currencies like the French
franc and German mark ahead of physical cash in 2002, and in November, Congress passed the
Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, tearing down the Depression-era wall between commercial banks, investment
banks, and insurers. Stock markets, meanwhile, were absorbed in a boom of their own: the Nasdaq
surged through the year on soaring internet-stock valuations, and the Federal Reserve raised
interest rates three times in the second half of 1999 partly to cool the exuberance, even as it
pumped extra liquidity into the banking system to guard against any disruption from the Y2K
rollover. A first-class stamp cost 33 cents. Inflation had spent the decade falling from 1990’s
5.4% peak to averages closer to 2-3%, and 1999 closed it out almost exactly where the 1990s as a
whole had settled.
MLA: “Inflation from 1998 to 1999: $100 is worth $102 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1998-to-1999/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1998 to 1999. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1998-to-1999/