$100 in 2003 is worth $125 in 2012,
because prices increased 24.8% over that period, an average of
2.49% a year.
$100 in 2003 has
the same buying power as
$125
in 2012
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
24.8%
Average inflation rate
2.49% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$125
Price difference ($100 base)
$24.78
CPI in 2003
184
CPI in 2012
229.594
Inflation in 2003
2.28%
Inflation in 2012
2.07%
$100 in 2003 → 2012
$125
$100 in 2012 → 2003
$80.14
What happened to prices between 2003 and 2012
Between 2003 and 2012, the Consumer Price Index went from 184 to 229.594.
Cumulatively, prices increased 24.8%, which works out to an average of
2.49% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 2003 bought what
$0.80 buys in 2012: the 2003 dollar
lost 19.9% of its purchasing power over
these 9 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 2012 at the same ratio, 1.25: $1,000 becomes
$1,248, and $10,000 becomes $12,478.
Amount in 2003
Value in 2012
$1.00
$1.25
$5.00
$6.24
$10.00
$12.48
$20.00
$24.96
$50.00
$62.39
$100
$125
$500
$624
$1,000
$1,248
$5,000
$6,239
$10,000
$12,478
$100,000
$124,779
$1,000,000
$1,247,793
Inflation by spending category, 2003–2012
Between 2003 and 2012, energy rose the most, up 80.3%, while apparel rose the least, up 4.4%, against 24.8% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 2003
spending costs in 2012, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 2003 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.49%
$125
Energy
6.77%
$180
Medical care
3.78%
$140
Transportation
3.64%
$138
Food
2.95%
$130
Education & communication
2.22%
$122
Housing
2.10%
$121
Core (all items less food & energy)
1.94%
$119
Recreation
0.72%
$107
Apparel
0.48%
$104
Decade by decade: 2003 to 2012
Prices climbed fastest in the 2010s, averaging 2.61% a year, and slowest in the 2000s (2.46% a year). Each step below chains into the full 2003–2012 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 2003, at end
2003–2010
2.46%
18.5%
$119
2010–2012
2.61%
5.3%
$125
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 2003
$100 from 2003 had already become $113 by
2007, on its way to $125 in 2012; 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 2012, prices rose 2.1% and $100 from 2003 had the buying
power of $125; the year's average CPI of 229.594 is the level
behind every 2012 figure on this page.
2012 put a number on what the Federal Reserve was aiming for. In January the
Fed announced a 2% inflation target, and consumer prices rose 2.1% for the
year, almost exactly on it. Gasoline averaged $3.62 a gallon, another annual
high, but the pace of increase cooled from 2011’s 3.2% as food and core prices
grew more slowly.
The bigger story was housing and jobs. Home prices began to recover, and the
median new home sold for about $245,200, up from $227,200 the year before.
Median household income was $51,017. The federal minimum wage held at $7.25,
and a first-class stamp rose to 45 cents.
In September the Fed started a third round of asset purchases, this one with
no fixed end date, aimed at lowering unemployment. Overseas, the European
Central Bank’s July pledge to do “whatever it takes” to save the euro calmed
bond markets. A summer drought across the Midwest drove corn and soybean
prices to records, a shock that reached grocery shelves only partly, because
most of what shoppers pay for food covers processing and transport rather than
raw crops.
MLA: “Inflation from 2003 to 2012: $100 is worth $125 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/2003-to-2012/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 2003 to 2012. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/2003-to-2012/