$100 in 1999 is worth $117 in 2005,
because prices increased 17.2% over that period, an average of
2.68% a year.
$100 in 1999 has
the same buying power as
$117
in 2005
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
17.2%
Average inflation rate
2.68% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$117
Price difference ($100 base)
$17.23
CPI in 1999
166.6
CPI in 2005
195.3
Inflation in 1999
2.21%
Inflation in 2005
3.39%
$100 in 1999 → 2005
$117
$100 in 2005 → 1999
$85.30
What happened to prices between 1999 and 2005
Between 1999 and 2005, the Consumer Price Index went from 166.6 to 195.3.
Cumulatively, prices increased 17.2%, which works out to an average of
2.68% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1999 bought what
$0.85 buys in 2005: the 1999 dollar
lost 14.7% of its purchasing power over
these 6 years.
The median household earned about $40,700 in 1999, gas averaged $1.17 a gallon, and a new home
cost roughly $161,000. Inflation ran at 2.2% for the year, ticking back up from 1998’s decade low
as oil prices recovered from their collapse. The decade closed with two changes to the financial
system that would shape the one after it: on January 1, the euro launched as an accounting
currency across 11 European countries, trading alongside national currencies like the French
franc and German mark ahead of physical cash in 2002, and in November, Congress passed the
Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, tearing down the Depression-era wall between commercial banks, investment
banks, and insurers. Stock markets, meanwhile, were absorbed in a boom of their own: the Nasdaq
surged through the year on soaring internet-stock valuations, and the Federal Reserve raised
interest rates three times in the second half of 1999 partly to cool the exuberance, even as it
pumped extra liquidity into the banking system to guard against any disruption from the Y2K
rollover. A first-class stamp cost 33 cents. Inflation had spent the decade falling from 1990’s
5.4% peak to averages closer to 2-3%, and 1999 closed it out almost exactly where the 1990s as a
whole had settled.
Every 1999 amount converts to 2005 at the same ratio, 1.17: $1,000 becomes
$1,172, and $10,000 becomes $11,723.
Amount in 1999
Value in 2005
$1.00
$1.17
$5.00
$5.86
$10.00
$11.72
$20.00
$23.45
$50.00
$58.61
$100
$117
$500
$586
$1,000
$1,172
$5,000
$5,861
$10,000
$11,723
$100,000
$117,227
$1,000,000
$1,172,269
Inflation by spending category, 1999–2005
Between 1999 and 2005, energy rose the most, up 66.1%, while apparel fell 9.0%, against 17.2% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1999
spending costs in 2005, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1999 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.68%
$117
Energy
8.83%
$166
Medical care
4.33%
$129
Transportation
3.15%
$120
Housing
3.00%
$119
Food
2.54%
$116
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.13%
$114
Education & communication
1.96%
$112
Recreation
1.17%
$107
Apparel
-1.56%
$91.01
Decade by decade: 1999 to 2005
Prices climbed fastest in the 1990s, averaging 3.36% a year, and slowest in the 2000s (2.55% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1999–2005 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 1999, at end
1999–2000
3.36%
3.4%
$103
2000–2005
2.55%
13.4%
$117
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1999
$100 from 1999 had already become $108 by
2002, on its way to $117 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 1999 had the buying
power of $117; 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 1999 to 2005: $100 is worth $117 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1999-to-2005/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1999 to 2005. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1999-to-2005/