$100 in 1998 is worth $120 in 2005,
because prices increased 19.8% over that period, an average of
2.62% a year.
$100 in 1998 has
the same buying power as
$120
in 2005
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
19.8%
Average inflation rate
2.62% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$120
Price difference ($100 base)
$19.82
CPI in 1998
163
CPI in 2005
195.3
Inflation in 1998
1.56%
Inflation in 2005
3.39%
$100 in 1998 → 2005
$120
$100 in 2005 → 1998
$83.46
What happened to prices between 1998 and 2005
Between 1998 and 2005, the Consumer Price Index went from 163 to 195.3.
Cumulatively, prices increased 19.8%, which works out to an average of
2.62% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1998 bought what
$0.83 buys in 2005: the 1998 dollar
lost 16.5% of its purchasing power over
these 7 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 2005 at the same ratio, 1.20: $1,000 becomes
$1,198, and $10,000 becomes $11,982.
Amount in 1998
Value in 2005
$1.00
$1.20
$5.00
$5.99
$10.00
$11.98
$20.00
$23.96
$50.00
$59.91
$100
$120
$500
$599
$1,000
$1,198
$5,000
$5,991
$10,000
$11,982
$100,000
$119,816
$1,000,000
$1,198,160
Inflation by spending category, 1998–2005
Between 1998 and 2005, energy rose the most, up 72.1%, while apparel fell 10.2%, against 19.8% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1998
spending costs in 2005, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1998 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.62%
$120
Energy
8.07%
$172
Medical care
4.21%
$133
Transportation
2.98%
$123
Housing
2.88%
$122
Food
2.48%
$119
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.13%
$116
Education & communication
1.81%
$113
Recreation
1.13%
$108
Apparel
-1.52%
$89.85
Decade by decade: 1998 to 2005
Prices climbed fastest in the 1990s, averaging 2.78% a year, and slowest in the 2000s (2.55% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1998–2005 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 1998, at end
1998–2000
2.78%
5.6%
$106
2000–2005
2.55%
13.4%
$120
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1998
$100 from 1998 had already become $109 by
2001, on its way to $120 in 2005; each row shows the CPI, that
year's inflation rate, and the running value.
Within the span, inflation peaked at 3.4% in 2005, and the smallest rise was 1.6% in 2002.
In 2005, prices rose 3.4% and $100 from 1998 had the buying
power of $120; the year's average CPI of 195.3 is the level
behind every 2005 figure on this page.
Inflation rose to 3.4% in 2005, up from 2.7% in 2004, as gasoline averaged $2.30 a gallon,
compared with $1.88 the year before. Hurricane Katrina made landfall on August 29, and with
Hurricane Rita weeks later it disrupted Gulf Coast refining, pushing the national average
price past $3 in early September. The Federal Reserve raised its policy rate at every meeting,
from 2.25% to 4.25%, to keep energy costs from feeding into other prices. The median household
earned about $46,300, up 4.5% from 2004, but the median new home price rose a further 9%, to
$240,900. In April, Congress passed a bankruptcy law that made it harder to clear debts. A
first-class stamp stayed at 37 cents until January 2006, and the federal minimum wage stayed
at $5.15.
MLA: “Inflation from 1998 to 2005: $100 is worth $120 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1998-to-2005/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1998 to 2005. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1998-to-2005/