$100 in 1998 is worth $110 in 2002,
because prices increased 10.4% over that period, an average of
2.50% a year.
$100 in 1998 has
the same buying power as
$110
in 2002
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
10.4%
Average inflation rate
2.50% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$110
Price difference ($100 base)
$10.37
CPI in 1998
163
CPI in 2002
179.9
Inflation in 1998
1.56%
Inflation in 2002
1.58%
$100 in 1998 → 2002
$110
$100 in 2002 → 1998
$90.61
What happened to prices between 1998 and 2002
Between 1998 and 2002, the Consumer Price Index went from 163 to 179.9.
Cumulatively, prices increased 10.4%, which works out to an average of
2.50% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1998 bought what
$0.91 buys in 2002: the 1998 dollar
lost 9.4% of its purchasing power over
these 4 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 2002 at the same ratio, 1.10: $1,000 becomes
$1,104, and $10,000 becomes $11,037.
Amount in 1998
Value in 2002
$1.00
$1.10
$5.00
$5.52
$10.00
$11.04
$20.00
$22.07
$50.00
$55.18
$100
$110
$500
$552
$1,000
$1,104
$5,000
$5,518
$10,000
$11,037
$100,000
$110,368
$1,000,000
$1,103,681
Inflation by spending category, 1998–2002
Between 1998 and 2002, energy rose the most, up 18.3%, while apparel fell 6.8%, against 10.4% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1998
spending costs in 2002, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1998 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.50%
$110
Energy
4.28%
$118
Medical care
4.22%
$118
Housing
2.97%
$112
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.38%
$110
Food
2.33%
$110
Transportation
1.94%
$108
Education & communication
1.84%
$108
Recreation
1.24%
$105
Apparel
-1.74%
$93.23
Decade by decade: 1998 to 2002
Prices climbed fastest in the 1990s, averaging 2.78% a year, and slowest in the 2000s (2.21% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1998–2002 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 1998, at end
1998–2000
2.78%
5.6%
$106
2000–2002
2.21%
4.5%
$110
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1998
$100 from 1998 had already become $106 by
2000, on its way to $110 in 2002; 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 2002.
In 2002, prices rose 1.6% and $100 from 1998 had the buying
power of $110; the year's average CPI of 179.9 is the level
behind every 2002 figure on this page.
The CPI rose 1.6% in 2002, the lowest annual rate of the decade so far, with gasoline down to an
average of $1.36 a gallon and slack in the labor market keeping wage pressure low. The median
household earned about $42,400, and a new home cost roughly $187,600, an increase of about 7%
from the year before as low mortgage rates began to lift housing. The Federal Reserve cut its
policy rate to 1.25% in November. Stocks were moving the other way: after the Enron and WorldCom
scandals, the S&P 500 hit its bear-market low on October 9, about 49% below its March 2000
peak, and Congress passed the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in July to tighten corporate accounting rules.
On January 1, euro banknotes and coins replaced national currencies in 12 European countries. A
first-class stamp rose to 37 cents in June, and the federal minimum wage stayed at $5.15.
MLA: “Inflation from 1998 to 2002: $100 is worth $110 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1998-to-2002/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1998 to 2002. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1998-to-2002/