$100 in 1998 is worth $127 in 2007,
because prices increased 27.2% over that period, an average of
2.71% a year.
$100 in 1998 has
the same buying power as
$127
in 2007
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
27.2%
Average inflation rate
2.71% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$127
Price difference ($100 base)
$27.20
CPI in 1998
163
CPI in 2007
207.342
Inflation in 1998
1.56%
Inflation in 2007
2.85%
$100 in 1998 → 2007
$127
$100 in 2007 → 1998
$78.61
What happened to prices between 1998 and 2007
Between 1998 and 2007, the Consumer Price Index went from 163 to 207.342.
Cumulatively, prices increased 27.2%, which works out to an average of
2.71% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1998 bought what
$0.79 buys in 2007: the 1998 dollar
lost 21.4% of its purchasing power over
these 9 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 2007 at the same ratio, 1.27: $1,000 becomes
$1,272, and $10,000 becomes $12,720.
Amount in 1998
Value in 2007
$1.00
$1.27
$5.00
$6.36
$10.00
$12.72
$20.00
$25.44
$50.00
$63.60
$100
$127
$500
$636
$1,000
$1,272
$5,000
$6,360
$10,000
$12,720
$100,000
$127,204
$1,000,000
$1,272,037
Inflation by spending category, 1998–2007
Between 1998 and 2007, energy rose the most, up 101.9%, while apparel fell 10.5%, against 27.2% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1998
spending costs in 2007, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1998 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.71%
$127
Energy
8.12%
$202
Medical care
4.22%
$145
Housing
3.02%
$131
Transportation
3.00%
$130
Food
2.63%
$126
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.19%
$122
Education & communication
1.97%
$119
Recreation
1.09%
$110
Apparel
-1.23%
$89.47
Decade by decade: 1998 to 2007
Prices climbed fastest in the 1990s, averaging 2.78% a year, and slowest in the 2000s (2.69% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1998–2007 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 1998, at end
1998–2000
2.78%
5.6%
$106
2000–2007
2.69%
20.4%
$127
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1998
$100 from 1998 had already become $110 by
2002, on its way to $127 in 2007; 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 2007, prices rose 2.8% and $100 from 1998 had the buying
power of $127; the year's average CPI of 207.342 is the level
behind every 2007 figure on this page.
Inflation was 2.8% in 2007, with gasoline averaging $2.80 a gallon, but the year is better
known for what began underneath prices. In August, French bank BNP Paribas froze funds tied to
U.S. subprime mortgages, and credit between banks tightened. The Federal Reserve responded with
a half-point cut on September 18, its first in four years, and took the policy rate from 5.25% to
4.25% by December. The economy peaked that month, by the National Bureau of Economic Research’s
dating, and the Great Recession followed. The median household earned about $50,200, and the
median new home cost $247,900. Congress ended the decade-long freeze on the federal minimum wage
in May, with the first of three steps to $5.85 in July. A first-class stamp cost 41 cents.
MLA: “Inflation from 1998 to 2007: $100 is worth $127 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1998-to-2007/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1998 to 2007. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1998-to-2007/