$100 in 2003 is worth $103 in 2004,
because prices increased 2.7% over that period, an average of
2.66% a year.
$100 in 2003 has
the same buying power as
$103
in 2004
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
2.7%
Average inflation rate
2.66% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$103
Price difference ($100 base)
$2.66
CPI in 2003
184
CPI in 2004
188.9
Inflation in 2003
2.28%
Inflation in 2004
2.66%
$100 in 2003 → 2004
$103
$100 in 2004 → 2003
$97.41
What happened to prices between 2003 and 2004
Between 2003 and 2004, the Consumer Price Index went from 184 to 188.9.
Cumulatively, prices increased 2.7%, which works out to an average of
2.66% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 2003 bought what
$0.97 buys in 2004: the 2003 dollar
lost 2.6% of its purchasing power over
these 1 years.
Inflation was 2.3% in 2003, up from 1.6% in 2002, as gasoline climbed from $1.36 to $1.59 a
gallon around the March invasion of Iraq. Even so, the Federal Reserve spent the year worried
about prices being too low: on June 25 it cut its policy rate to 1.0%, the lowest since 1958,
and said the risk of deflation, though small, deserved a response. The median household earned
about $43,300 and a new home cost roughly $195,000. Congress passed a second round of tax cuts
in May, and the economy grew faster in the second half of the year than at any point since
1999. Hiring lagged the recovery, and unemployment peaked at 6.3% in June. A first-class stamp
stayed at 37 cents and the federal minimum wage at $5.15.
Every 2003 amount converts to 2004 at the same ratio, 1.03: $1,000 becomes
$1,027, and $10,000 becomes $10,266.
Amount in 2003
Value in 2004
$1.00
$1.03
$5.00
$5.13
$10.00
$10.27
$20.00
$20.53
$50.00
$51.33
$100
$103
$500
$513
$1,000
$1,027
$5,000
$5,133
$10,000
$10,266
$100,000
$102,663
$1,000,000
$1,026,630
Inflation by spending category, 2003–2004
Between 2003 and 2004, energy rose the most, up 10.9%, while apparel fell 0.4%, against 2.7% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 2003
spending costs in 2004, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 2003 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.66%
$103
Energy
10.92%
$111
Medical care
4.38%
$104
Transportation
3.49%
$103
Food
3.44%
$103
Housing
2.54%
$103
Core (all items less food & energy)
1.76%
$102
Education & communication
1.64%
$102
Recreation
1.02%
$101
Apparel
-0.41%
$99.59
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 2003
$100 from 2003grew to $103 by 2004; each row
shows the CPI, that year's inflation rate, and the running value.
In 2004, prices rose 2.7% and $100 from 2003 had the buying
power of $103; the year's average CPI of 188.9 is the level
behind every 2004 figure on this page.
Consumer prices rose 2.7% in 2004, with a 29-cent jump in the price of gasoline, to $1.88 a
gallon, doing much of the work. Crude oil passed $50 a barrel in October on rising demand
from China and India. The Federal Reserve raised rates for the first time in four years on
June 30, to 1.25%, and it kept going: 17 consecutive quarter-point increases took the rate to
5.25% by June 2006. Housing was already running ahead of incomes. The median household earned
about $44,300, up 2.3% from 2003, while the median new home sold for $221,000, up about 13%. A
first-class stamp stayed at 37 cents and the federal minimum wage at $5.15, unchanged since
1997.
MLA: “Inflation from 2003 to 2004: $100 is worth $103 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/2003-to-2004/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 2003 to 2004. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/2003-to-2004/