$100 in 1998 is worth $113 in 2003,
because prices increased 12.9% over that period, an average of
2.45% a year.
$100 in 1998 has
the same buying power as
$113
in 2003
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
12.9%
Average inflation rate
2.45% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$113
Price difference ($100 base)
$12.88
CPI in 1998
163
CPI in 2003
184
Inflation in 1998
1.56%
Inflation in 2003
2.28%
$100 in 1998 → 2003
$113
$100 in 2003 → 1998
$88.59
What happened to prices between 1998 and 2003
Between 1998 and 2003, the Consumer Price Index went from 163 to 184.
Cumulatively, prices increased 12.9%, which works out to an average of
2.45% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1998 bought what
$0.89 buys in 2003: the 1998 dollar
lost 11.4% of its purchasing power over
these 5 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 2003 at the same ratio, 1.13: $1,000 becomes
$1,129, and $10,000 becomes $11,288.
Amount in 1998
Value in 2003
$1.00
$1.13
$5.00
$5.64
$10.00
$11.29
$20.00
$22.58
$50.00
$56.44
$100
$113
$500
$564
$1,000
$1,129
$5,000
$5,644
$10,000
$11,288
$100,000
$112,883
$1,000,000
$1,128,834
Inflation by spending category, 1998–2003
Between 1998 and 2003, energy rose the most, up 32.7%, while apparel fell 9.1%, against 12.9% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1998
spending costs in 2003, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1998 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.45%
$113
Energy
5.81%
$133
Medical care
4.18%
$123
Housing
2.87%
$115
Food
2.29%
$112
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.19%
$111
Transportation
2.16%
$111
Education & communication
1.83%
$109
Recreation
1.24%
$106
Apparel
-1.89%
$90.90
Decade by decade: 1998 to 2003
Prices climbed fastest in the 1990s, averaging 2.78% a year, and slowest in the 2000s (2.23% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1998–2003 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 1998, at end
1998–2000
2.78%
5.6%
$106
2000–2003
2.23%
6.9%
$113
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1998
$100 from 1998 had already become $106 by
2000, on its way to $113 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 2002.
In 2003, prices rose 2.3% and $100 from 1998 had the buying
power of $113; 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 1998 to 2003: $100 is worth $113 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1998-to-2003/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1998 to 2003. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1998-to-2003/