$100 in 2007 is worth $111 in 2012,
because prices increased 10.7% over that period, an average of
2.06% a year.
$100 in 2007 has
the same buying power as
$111
in 2012
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
10.7%
Average inflation rate
2.06% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$111
Price difference ($100 base)
$10.73
CPI in 2007
207.342
CPI in 2012
229.594
Inflation in 2007
2.85%
Inflation in 2012
2.07%
$100 in 2007 → 2012
$111
$100 in 2012 → 2007
$90.31
What happened to prices between 2007 and 2012
Between 2007 and 2012, the Consumer Price Index went from 207.342 to 229.594.
Cumulatively, prices increased 10.7%, which works out to an average of
2.06% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 2007 bought what
$0.90 buys in 2012: the 2007 dollar
lost 9.7% of its purchasing power over
these 5 years.
Inflation was 2.8% in 2007, with gasoline averaging $2.80 a gallon, but the year is better
known for what began underneath prices. In August, French bank BNP Paribas froze funds tied to
U.S. subprime mortgages, and credit between banks tightened. The Federal Reserve responded with
a half-point cut on September 18, its first in four years, and took the policy rate from 5.25% to
4.25% by December. The economy peaked that month, by the National Bureau of Economic Research’s
dating, and the Great Recession followed. The median household earned about $50,200, and the
median new home cost $247,900. Congress ended the decade-long freeze on the federal minimum wage
in May, with the first of three steps to $5.85 in July. A first-class stamp cost 41 cents.
Every 2007 amount converts to 2012 at the same ratio, 1.11: $1,000 becomes
$1,107, and $10,000 becomes $11,073.
Amount in 2007
Value in 2012
$1.00
$1.11
$5.00
$5.54
$10.00
$11.07
$20.00
$22.15
$50.00
$55.37
$100
$111
$500
$554
$1,000
$1,107
$5,000
$5,537
$10,000
$11,073
$100,000
$110,732
$1,000,000
$1,107,320
Inflation by spending category, 2007–2012
Between 2007 and 2012, energy rose the most, up 18.5%, while recreation rose the least, up 2.9%, against 10.7% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 2007
spending costs in 2012, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 2007 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.06%
$111
Energy
3.45%
$118
Medical care
3.40%
$118
Transportation
3.31%
$118
Food
2.87%
$115
Education & communication
2.28%
$112
Core (all items less food & energy)
1.74%
$109
Housing
1.22%
$106
Apparel
1.19%
$106
Recreation
0.58%
$103
Decade by decade: 2007 to 2012
Prices climbed fastest in the 2010s, averaging 2.61% a year, and slowest in the 2000s (1.69% a year). Each step below chains into the full 2007–2012 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 2007, at end
2007–2010
1.69%
5.2%
$105
2010–2012
2.61%
5.3%
$111
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 2007
$100 from 2007 had already become $103 by
2009, on its way to $111 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 2007 had the buying
power of $111; 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 2007 to 2012: $100 is worth $111 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/2007-to-2012/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 2007 to 2012. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/2007-to-2012/