$100 in 1998 is worth $147 in 2016,
because prices increased 47.2% over that period, an average of
2.17% a year.
$100 in 1998 has
the same buying power as
$147
in 2016
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
47.2%
Average inflation rate
2.17% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$147
Price difference ($100 base)
$47.24
CPI in 1998
163
CPI in 2016
240.007
Inflation in 1998
1.56%
Inflation in 2016
1.26%
$100 in 1998 → 2016
$147
$100 in 2016 → 1998
$67.91
What happened to prices between 1998 and 2016
Between 1998 and 2016, the Consumer Price Index went from 163 to 240.007.
Cumulatively, prices increased 47.2%, which works out to an average of
2.17% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1998 bought what
$0.68 buys in 2016: the 1998 dollar
lost 32.1% of its purchasing power over
these 18 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 2016 at the same ratio, 1.47: $1,000 becomes
$1,472, and $10,000 becomes $14,724.
Amount in 1998
Value in 2016
$1.00
$1.47
$5.00
$7.36
$10.00
$14.72
$20.00
$29.45
$50.00
$73.62
$100
$147
$500
$736
$1,000
$1,472
$5,000
$7,362
$10,000
$14,724
$100,000
$147,244
$1,000,000
$1,472,436
Inflation by spending category, 1998–2016
Between 1998 and 2016, medical care rose the most, up 91.5%, while apparel fell 5.2%, against 47.2% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1998
spending costs in 2016, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1998 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.17%
$147
Medical care
3.68%
$192
Energy
3.45%
$184
Food
2.44%
$154
Housing
2.36%
$152
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.00%
$143
Education & communication
1.83%
$139
Transportation
1.79%
$138
Recreation
0.81%
$116
Apparel
-0.30%
$94.77
Decade by decade: 1998 to 2016
Prices climbed fastest in the 1990s, averaging 2.78% a year, and slowest in the 2010s (1.61% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1998–2016 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
2010–2016
1.61%
10.1%
$147
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1998
$100 from 1998 had already become $127 by
2007, on its way to $147 in 2016; 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 2016, prices rose 1.3% and $100 from 1998 had the buying
power of $147; the year's average CPI of 240.007 is the level
behind every 2016 figure on this page.
2016 opened with the cheapest oil in more than a decade and closed with a
change in political direction. Crude fell to about $26 a barrel in February,
and gasoline averaged $2.14 a gallon for the year, its lowest annual
average since 2004. Headline inflation was 1.3%, a modest rebound from 2015’s
0.1%, though prices excluding food and energy rose faster, driven by rents and
health care.
Median household income rose to $59,039, the second large gain in a row, and
the median new home sold for about $307,800. The federal minimum wage held at
$7.25, and a first-class stamp fell to 47 cents after a January rate cut, a
rare decrease.
Two votes changed the outlook. Britain’s June decision to leave the European
Union unsettled currency markets, and the U.S. election in November raised
expectations of tax cuts, deficits, and faster growth, sending long-term
interest rates higher. OPEC’s November output cut ended the oil slump, and the
Federal Reserve made its second rate increase in December, to 0.50–0.75%.
MLA: “Inflation from 1998 to 2016: $100 is worth $147 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1998-to-2016/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1998 to 2016. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1998-to-2016/