$100 in 2008 is worth $99.64 in 2009,
because prices declined 0.4% over that period, an average of
0.36% a year.
$100 in 2008 has
the same buying power as
$99.64
in 2009
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
-0.4%
Average inflation rate
-0.36% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$99.64
Price difference ($100 base)
-$0.36
CPI in 2008
215.303
CPI in 2009
214.537
Inflation in 2008
3.84%
Inflation in 2009
-0.36%
$100 in 2008 → 2009
$99.64
$100 in 2009 → 2008
$100
What happened to prices between 2008 and 2009
Between 2008 and 2009, the Consumer Price Index went from 215.303 to 214.537.
Cumulatively, prices declined 0.4%, which works out to an average of
-0.36% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 2008 bought what
$1.00 buys in 2009: the 2008 dollar
gained 0.4% in purchasing power over
these 1 years.
Inflation averaged 3.8% in 2008, but that figure hides a swing. The 12-month rate reached 5.6% in
July, when oil hit $147 a barrel and gasoline passed $4 a gallon, then fell to 0.1% by December
as crude dropped near $40. For the year, gas averaged $3.27, the highest yet. The financial
system broke in the fall: Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy on September 15, Congress
created the $700 billion TARP bank rescue on October 3, and the Federal Reserve cut its policy
rate to a range of 0–0.25% in December. The median household earned about $50,300, barely
above 2007, and the median new home price fell to $232,100. The minimum wage rose to $6.55 in
July, and a first-class stamp cost 42 cents. The price collapse at the end of 2008 set up the
deflation of 2009.
Every 2008 amount converts to 2009 at the same ratio, 1.00: $1,000 becomes
$996, and $10,000 becomes $9,964.
Amount in 2008
Value in 2009
$1.00
$1.00
$5.00
$4.98
$10.00
$9.96
$20.00
$19.93
$50.00
$49.82
$100
$99.64
$500
$498
$1,000
$996
$5,000
$4,982
$10,000
$9,964
$100,000
$99,644
$1,000,000
$996,442
Inflation by spending category, 2008–2009
Between 2008 and 2009, medical care rose the most, up 3.2%, while energy fell 18.4%, against 0.4% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 2008
spending costs in 2009, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 2008 →
All items (CPI-U)
-0.36%
$99.64
Medical care
3.17%
$103
Education & communication
3.04%
$103
Food
1.80%
$102
Core (all items less food & energy)
1.70%
$102
Apparel
0.98%
$101
Recreation
0.90%
$101
Housing
0.37%
$100
Transportation
-8.33%
$91.67
Energy
-18.40%
$81.60
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 2008
$100 from 2008shrank to $99.64 by 2009; each row
shows the CPI, that year's inflation rate, and the running value.
In 2009, prices fell 0.4% and $100 from 2008 had the buying
power of $99.64; 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 2008 to 2009: $100 is worth $99.64 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/2008-to-2009/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 2008 to 2009. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/2008-to-2009/