$100 in 1999 is worth $129 in 2008,
because prices increased 29.2% over that period, an average of
2.89% a year.
$100 in 1999 has
the same buying power as
$129
in 2008
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
29.2%
Average inflation rate
2.89% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$129
Price difference ($100 base)
$29.23
CPI in 1999
166.6
CPI in 2008
215.303
Inflation in 1999
2.21%
Inflation in 2008
3.84%
$100 in 1999 → 2008
$129
$100 in 2008 → 1999
$77.38
What happened to prices between 1999 and 2008
Between 1999 and 2008, the Consumer Price Index went from 166.6 to 215.303.
Cumulatively, prices increased 29.2%, which works out to an average of
2.89% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1999 bought what
$0.77 buys in 2008: the 1999 dollar
lost 22.6% of its purchasing power over
these 9 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 2008 at the same ratio, 1.29: $1,000 becomes
$1,292, and $10,000 becomes $12,923.
Amount in 1999
Value in 2008
$1.00
$1.29
$5.00
$6.46
$10.00
$12.92
$20.00
$25.85
$50.00
$64.62
$100
$129
$500
$646
$1,000
$1,292
$5,000
$6,462
$10,000
$12,923
$100,000
$129,233
$1,000,000
$1,292,335
Inflation by spending category, 1999–2008
Between 1999 and 2008, energy rose the most, up 122.0%, while apparel fell 9.4%, against 29.2% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1999
spending costs in 2008, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1999 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.89%
$129
Energy
9.27%
$222
Medical care
4.24%
$145
Transportation
3.43%
$135
Housing
3.13%
$132
Food
3.00%
$130
Education & communication
2.25%
$122
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.21%
$122
Recreation
1.17%
$111
Apparel
-1.10%
$90.56
Decade by decade: 1999 to 2008
Prices climbed fastest in the 1990s, averaging 3.36% a year, and slowest in the 2000s (2.83% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1999–2008 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 1999, at end
1999–2000
3.36%
3.4%
$103
2000–2008
2.83%
25.0%
$129
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1999
$100 from 1999 had already become $110 by
2003, on its way to $129 in 2008; 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 the smallest rise was 1.6% in 2002.
In 2008, prices rose 3.8% and $100 from 1999 had the buying
power of $129; the year's average CPI of 215.303 is the level
behind every 2008 figure on this page.
Inflation averaged 3.8% in 2008, but that figure hides a swing. The 12-month rate reached 5.6% in
July, when oil hit $147 a barrel and gasoline passed $4 a gallon, then fell to 0.1% by December
as crude dropped near $40. For the year, gas averaged $3.27, the highest yet. The financial
system broke in the fall: Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy on September 15, Congress
created the $700 billion TARP bank rescue on October 3, and the Federal Reserve cut its policy
rate to a range of 0–0.25% in December. The median household earned about $50,300, barely
above 2007, and the median new home price fell to $232,100. The minimum wage rose to $6.55 in
July, and a first-class stamp cost 42 cents. The price collapse at the end of 2008 set up the
deflation of 2009.
MLA: “Inflation from 1999 to 2008: $100 is worth $129 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1999-to-2008/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1999 to 2008. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1999-to-2008/