$100 in 2008 is worth $104 in 2011,
because prices increased 4.5% over that period, an average of
1.47% a year.
$100 in 2008 has
the same buying power as
$104
in 2011
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
4.5%
Average inflation rate
1.47% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$104
Price difference ($100 base)
$4.48
CPI in 2008
215.303
CPI in 2011
224.939
Inflation in 2008
3.84%
Inflation in 2011
3.16%
$100 in 2008 → 2011
$104
$100 in 2011 → 2008
$95.72
What happened to prices between 2008 and 2011
Between 2008 and 2011, the Consumer Price Index went from 215.303 to 224.939.
Cumulatively, prices increased 4.5%, which works out to an average of
1.47% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 2008 bought what
$0.96 buys in 2011: the 2008 dollar
lost 4.3% of its purchasing power over
these 3 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 2011 at the same ratio, 1.04: $1,000 becomes
$1,045, and $10,000 becomes $10,448.
Amount in 2008
Value in 2011
$1.00
$1.04
$5.00
$5.22
$10.00
$10.45
$20.00
$20.90
$50.00
$52.24
$100
$104
$500
$522
$1,000
$1,045
$5,000
$5,224
$10,000
$10,448
$100,000
$104,476
$1,000,000
$1,044,756
Inflation by spending category, 2008–2011
Between 2008 and 2011, medical care rose the most, up 9.9%, while recreation rose the least, up 0.1%, against 4.5% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 2008
spending costs in 2011, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 2008 →
All items (CPI-U)
1.47%
$104
Medical care
3.21%
$110
Transportation
2.79%
$109
Food
2.09%
$106
Education & communication
2.07%
$106
Core (all items less food & energy)
1.44%
$104
Energy
1.01%
$103
Apparel
0.89%
$103
Housing
0.44%
$101
Recreation
0.03%
$100
Decade by decade: 2008 to 2011
Prices climbed fastest in the 2010s, averaging 3.16% a year, and slowest in the 2000s (0.64% a year). Each step below chains into the full 2008–2011 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 2008, at end
2008–2010
0.64%
1.3%
$101
2010–2011
3.16%
3.2%
$104
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 2008
$100 from 2008 had already become $99.64 by
2009, on its way to $104 in 2011; each row shows the CPI, that
year's inflation rate, and the running value.
Within the span, inflation peaked at 3.2% in 2011, and prices fell 0.4% in 2009, the deepest deflation of the period.
In 2011, prices rose 3.2% and $100 from 2008 had the buying
power of $104; 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 2008 to 2011: $100 is worth $104 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/2008-to-2011/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 2008 to 2011. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/2008-to-2011/