$100 in 1999 is worth $142 in 2014,
because prices increased 42.1% over that period, an average of
2.37% a year.
$100 in 1999 has
the same buying power as
$142
in 2014
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
42.1%
Average inflation rate
2.37% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$142
Price difference ($100 base)
$42.10
CPI in 1999
166.6
CPI in 2014
236.736
Inflation in 1999
2.21%
Inflation in 2014
1.62%
$100 in 1999 → 2014
$142
$100 in 2014 → 1999
$70.37
What happened to prices between 1999 and 2014
Between 1999 and 2014, the Consumer Price Index went from 166.6 to 236.736.
Cumulatively, prices increased 42.1%, which works out to an average of
2.37% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1999 bought what
$0.70 buys in 2014: the 1999 dollar
lost 29.6% of its purchasing power over
these 15 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 2014 at the same ratio, 1.42: $1,000 becomes
$1,421, and $10,000 becomes $14,210.
Amount in 1999
Value in 2014
$1.00
$1.42
$5.00
$7.10
$10.00
$14.21
$20.00
$28.42
$50.00
$71.05
$100
$142
$500
$710
$1,000
$1,421
$5,000
$7,105
$10,000
$14,210
$100,000
$142,098
$1,000,000
$1,420,984
Inflation by spending category, 1999–2014
Between 1999 and 2014, energy rose the most, up 128.5%, while apparel fell 2.9%, against 42.1% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1999
spending costs in 2014, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1999 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.37%
$142
Energy
5.66%
$229
Medical care
3.75%
$174
Transportation
2.72%
$150
Food
2.64%
$148
Housing
2.38%
$142
Education & communication
2.07%
$136
Core (all items less food & energy)
1.99%
$134
Recreation
0.83%
$113
Apparel
-0.19%
$97.12
Decade by decade: 1999 to 2014
Prices climbed fastest in the 1990s, averaging 3.36% a year, and slowest in the 2010s (2.08% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1999–2014 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 1999, at end
1999–2000
3.36%
3.4%
$103
2000–2010
2.39%
26.6%
$131
2010–2014
2.08%
8.6%
$142
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1999
$100 from 1999 had already become $121 by
2006, on its way to $142 in 2014; 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 2014, prices rose 1.6% and $100 from 1999 had the buying
power of $142; the year's average CPI of 236.736 is the level
behind every 2014 figure on this page.
2014 ended with the sharpest oil price drop in years. Consumer prices rose
1.6% for the year, close to 2013’s pace, but the annual figure hid a shift at
the pump: crude oil fell from above $100 a barrel in June to below $60 in
December, and gasoline finished the year near $2.25 a gallon after averaging
$3.37 across 2014. The drop reflected record U.S. shale output, softer
global demand, and OPEC’s decision in November to keep producing.
For households, cheaper fuel arrived just as the labor market strengthened.
Median household income was $53,657, essentially flat on the prior year, and
the median new home sold for about $288,500. The federal minimum wage stayed
at $7.25 for a fifth year, and a first-class stamp rose to 49 cents.
The Federal Reserve ended its bond purchases in October but left its policy
rate at zero. A stronger dollar helped hold down import prices. Because
energy weighs heavily in the CPI, the late-year slide carried into 2015, which
posted the smallest annual increase of the decade.
MLA: “Inflation from 1999 to 2014: $100 is worth $142 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1999-to-2014/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1999 to 2014. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1999-to-2014/