$100 in 2002 is worth $125 in 2011,
because prices increased 25.0% over that period, an average of
2.51% a year.
$100 in 2002 has
the same buying power as
$125
in 2011
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
25.0%
Average inflation rate
2.51% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$125
Price difference ($100 base)
$25.04
CPI in 2002
179.9
CPI in 2011
224.939
Inflation in 2002
1.58%
Inflation in 2011
3.16%
$100 in 2002 → 2011
$125
$100 in 2011 → 2002
$79.98
What happened to prices between 2002 and 2011
Between 2002 and 2011, the Consumer Price Index went from 179.9 to 224.939.
Cumulatively, prices increased 25.0%, which works out to an average of
2.51% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 2002 bought what
$0.80 buys in 2011: the 2002 dollar
lost 20.0% of its purchasing power over
these 9 years.
The CPI rose 1.6% in 2002, the lowest annual rate of the decade so far, with gasoline down to an
average of $1.36 a gallon and slack in the labor market keeping wage pressure low. The median
household earned about $42,400, and a new home cost roughly $187,600, an increase of about 7%
from the year before as low mortgage rates began to lift housing. The Federal Reserve cut its
policy rate to 1.25% in November. Stocks were moving the other way: after the Enron and WorldCom
scandals, the S&P 500 hit its bear-market low on October 9, about 49% below its March 2000
peak, and Congress passed the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in July to tighten corporate accounting rules.
On January 1, euro banknotes and coins replaced national currencies in 12 European countries. A
first-class stamp rose to 37 cents in June, and the federal minimum wage stayed at $5.15.
Every 2002 amount converts to 2011 at the same ratio, 1.25: $1,000 becomes
$1,250, and $10,000 becomes $12,504.
Amount in 2002
Value in 2011
$1.00
$1.25
$5.00
$6.25
$10.00
$12.50
$20.00
$25.01
$50.00
$62.52
$100
$125
$500
$625
$1,000
$1,250
$5,000
$6,252
$10,000
$12,504
$100,000
$125,036
$1,000,000
$1,250,356
Inflation by spending category, 2002–2011
Between 2002 and 2011, energy rose the most, up 100.4%, while apparel fell 1.5%, against 25.0% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 2002
spending costs in 2011, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 2002 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.51%
$125
Energy
8.03%
$200
Medical care
3.82%
$140
Transportation
3.72%
$139
Food
2.90%
$129
Education & communication
2.22%
$122
Housing
2.19%
$122
Core (all items less food & energy)
1.87%
$118
Recreation
0.73%
$107
Apparel
-0.17%
$98.48
Decade by decade: 2002 to 2011
Prices climbed fastest in the 2010s, averaging 3.16% a year, and slowest in the 2000s (2.43% a year). Each step below chains into the full 2002–2011 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 2002, at end
2002–2010
2.43%
21.2%
$121
2010–2011
3.16%
3.2%
$125
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 2002
$100 from 2002 had already become $112 by
2006, on its way to $125 in 2011; 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 2011, prices rose 3.2% and $100 from 2002 had the buying
power of $125; the year's average CPI of 224.939 is the level
behind every 2011 figure on this page.
2011 brought the fastest inflation of the post-recession recovery. Consumer
prices rose 3.2%, roughly double the 2010 pace, and the cause was mostly at the
pump and the grocery store. Unrest across the Middle East and North Africa,
including the war in Libya, pushed gasoline to an annual average of $3.52 a
gallon, the highest yearly figure recorded to that point. Food prices also
rose faster than the overall index.
Household budgets did not keep up. The median household income was $50,054,
barely above the year before, and the median new home sold for about $227,200.
The federal minimum wage stayed at $7.25 and a first-class stamp at 44 cents.
Policy stayed loose. The Federal Reserve kept its policy rate near zero and
launched Operation Twist in September to lower long-term rates. Washington
spent the summer in a debt-ceiling fight that ended in S&P’s August downgrade
of the U.S. credit rating. The inflation spike proved temporary: the
2011 rate was the high point of the early 2010s, and prices grew more slowly
in every year that followed until 2017.
MLA: “Inflation from 2002 to 2011: $100 is worth $125 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/2002-to-2011/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 2002 to 2011. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/2002-to-2011/