$100 in 2001 is worth $121 in 2009,
because prices increased 21.1% over that period, an average of
2.43% a year.
$100 in 2001 has
the same buying power as
$121
in 2009
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
21.1%
Average inflation rate
2.43% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$121
Price difference ($100 base)
$21.14
CPI in 2001
177.1
CPI in 2009
214.537
Inflation in 2001
2.85%
Inflation in 2009
-0.36%
$100 in 2001 → 2009
$121
$100 in 2009 → 2001
$82.55
What happened to prices between 2001 and 2009
Between 2001 and 2009, the Consumer Price Index went from 177.1 to 214.537.
Cumulatively, prices increased 21.1%, which works out to an average of
2.43% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 2001 bought what
$0.83 buys in 2009: the 2001 dollar
lost 17.5% of its purchasing power over
these 8 years.
Inflation fell to 2.8% in 2001 from 3.4% the year before, as a recession that began in March
cut demand and gasoline slid to an average of $1.46 a gallon. The median household earned about
$42,200, roughly flat from 2000, and a new home cost about $175,200. The Federal Reserve cut its
policy rate 11 times over the year, from 6.5% to 1.75%, the lowest since 1961. After the
September 11 attacks, U.S. stock markets closed for four trading days, and air travel dropped
sharply until the following year. Congress had already passed a $1.35 trillion tax cut in June,
which included rebate checks of up to $600. The National Bureau of Economic Research dates the
recession’s end at November, but unemployment kept rising into 2003. A first-class stamp went to
34 cents in January, and the federal minimum wage stayed at $5.15. The Fed’s cuts were the
first step in a long period of very cheap borrowing that would fuel the housing boom.
Every 2001 amount converts to 2009 at the same ratio, 1.21: $1,000 becomes
$1,211, and $10,000 becomes $12,114.
Amount in 2001
Value in 2009
$1.00
$1.21
$5.00
$6.06
$10.00
$12.11
$20.00
$24.23
$50.00
$60.57
$100
$121
$500
$606
$1,000
$1,211
$5,000
$6,057
$10,000
$12,114
$100,000
$121,139
$1,000,000
$1,211,389
Inflation by spending category, 2001–2009
Between 2001 and 2009, energy rose the most, up 49.4%, while apparel fell 5.7%, against 21.1% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 2001
spending costs in 2009, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 2001 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.43%
$121
Energy
5.14%
$149
Medical care
4.08%
$138
Food
2.92%
$126
Housing
2.63%
$123
Education & communication
2.42%
$121
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.07%
$118
Transportation
1.89%
$116
Recreation
1.08%
$109
Apparel
-0.73%
$94.33
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 2001
$100 from 2001 had already become $110 by
2005, on its way to $121 in 2009; 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 2009, prices fell 0.4% and $100 from 2001 had the buying
power of $121; the year's average CPI of 214.537 is the level
behind every 2009 figure on this page.
2009 is the rarest kind of year in the modern price data: one where the cost
of living went down. The CPI fell 0.4%, the first full-year deflation
since 1955, as the Great Recession hollowed out demand and oil unwound from
its $147 spike the summer before. Gasoline that had cost over $4 a gallon in
July 2008 averaged $2.35 in 2009, and that energy collapse dragged the
12-month inflation rate to −2.1% by July, the deepest reading since 1950.
Policymakers treated falling prices not as relief but as a warning: deflation
raises the real weight of debt precisely when households are drowning in it,
which is why the Federal Reserve pinned interest rates near zero, began buying
bonds by the hundreds of billions, and Washington passed a $787 billion
stimulus. The medicine took: prices stabilized within a year, and 2009 remains
the textbook case of why central banks fear deflation more than moderate
inflation.
MLA: “Inflation from 2001 to 2009: $100 is worth $121 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/2001-to-2009/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 2001 to 2009. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/2001-to-2009/