$100 in 1998 is worth $141 in 2012,
because prices increased 40.9% over that period, an average of
2.48% a year.
$100 in 1998 has
the same buying power as
$141
in 2012
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
40.9%
Average inflation rate
2.48% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$141
Price difference ($100 base)
$40.86
CPI in 1998
163
CPI in 2012
229.594
Inflation in 1998
1.56%
Inflation in 2012
2.07%
$100 in 1998 → 2012
$141
$100 in 2012 → 1998
$70.99
What happened to prices between 1998 and 2012
Between 1998 and 2012, the Consumer Price Index went from 163 to 229.594.
Cumulatively, prices increased 40.9%, which works out to an average of
2.48% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1998 bought what
$0.71 buys in 2012: the 1998 dollar
lost 29.0% of its purchasing power over
these 14 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 2012 at the same ratio, 1.41: $1,000 becomes
$1,409, and $10,000 becomes $14,086.
Amount in 1998
Value in 2012
$1.00
$1.41
$5.00
$7.04
$10.00
$14.09
$20.00
$28.17
$50.00
$70.43
$100
$141
$500
$704
$1,000
$1,409
$5,000
$7,043
$10,000
$14,086
$100,000
$140,855
$1,000,000
$1,408,552
Inflation by spending category, 1998–2012
Between 1998 and 2012, energy rose the most, up 139.1%, while apparel fell 5.1%, against 40.9% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1998
spending costs in 2012, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1998 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.48%
$141
Energy
6.43%
$239
Medical care
3.92%
$171
Transportation
3.11%
$153
Food
2.71%
$145
Housing
2.37%
$139
Education & communication
2.08%
$133
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.03%
$133
Recreation
0.91%
$113
Apparel
-0.37%
$94.94
Decade by decade: 1998 to 2012
Prices climbed fastest in the 1990s, averaging 2.78% a year, and slowest in the 2000s (2.39% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1998–2012 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 1998, at end
1998–2000
2.78%
5.6%
$106
2000–2010
2.39%
26.6%
$134
2010–2012
2.61%
5.3%
$141
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1998
$100 from 1998 had already become $120 by
2005, on its way to $141 in 2012; each row shows the CPI, that
year's inflation rate, and the running value.
Within the span, inflation peaked at 3.8% in 2008, and prices fell 0.4% in 2009, the deepest deflation of the period.
In 2012, prices rose 2.1% and $100 from 1998 had the buying
power of $141; the year's average CPI of 229.594 is the level
behind every 2012 figure on this page.
2012 put a number on what the Federal Reserve was aiming for. In January the
Fed announced a 2% inflation target, and consumer prices rose 2.1% for the
year, almost exactly on it. Gasoline averaged $3.62 a gallon, another annual
high, but the pace of increase cooled from 2011’s 3.2% as food and core prices
grew more slowly.
The bigger story was housing and jobs. Home prices began to recover, and the
median new home sold for about $245,200, up from $227,200 the year before.
Median household income was $51,017. The federal minimum wage held at $7.25,
and a first-class stamp rose to 45 cents.
In September the Fed started a third round of asset purchases, this one with
no fixed end date, aimed at lowering unemployment. Overseas, the European
Central Bank’s July pledge to do “whatever it takes” to save the euro calmed
bond markets. A summer drought across the Midwest drove corn and soybean
prices to records, a shock that reached grocery shelves only partly, because
most of what shoppers pay for food covers processing and transport rather than
raw crops.
MLA: “Inflation from 1998 to 2012: $100 is worth $141 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1998-to-2012/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1998 to 2012. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1998-to-2012/