$100 in 2010 is worth $105 in 2012,
because prices increased 5.3% over that period, an average of
2.61% a year.
$100 in 2010 has
the same buying power as
$105
in 2012
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
5.3%
Average inflation rate
2.61% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$105
Price difference ($100 base)
$5.29
CPI in 2010
218.056
CPI in 2012
229.594
Inflation in 2010
1.64%
Inflation in 2012
2.07%
$100 in 2010 → 2012
$105
$100 in 2012 → 2010
$94.97
What happened to prices between 2010 and 2012
Between 2010 and 2012, the Consumer Price Index went from 218.056 to 229.594.
Cumulatively, prices increased 5.3%, which works out to an average of
2.61% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 2010 bought what
$0.95 buys in 2012: the 2010 dollar
lost 5.0% of its purchasing power over
these 2 years.
2010 was a year of recovery without much price pressure. The CPI rose 1.6%, a
return to growth after 2009’s deflation, with gasoline averaging $2.78 a
gallon as energy prices climbed back from their recession lows. Housing costs
barely moved: millions of foreclosed and vacant homes kept rents soft, and the
median new home sold for about $221,800. The federal minimum wage stayed at
$7.25, the level set in July 2009, and a first-class stamp cost 44 cents.
The Federal Reserve was more worried about too little inflation than too
much. Its policy rate sat at 0–0.25%, and in November it announced a further
$600 billion of Treasury purchases to hold down long-term borrowing costs.
Congress passed the Dodd-Frank Act in July to tighten financial regulation,
while a 110 billion euro rescue of Greece in May showed that the crisis had
moved from American mortgages to European government debt. For anyone
comparing dollars across the decade, 2010 is a useful baseline: prices were
still close to their 2008 levels, and the years ahead brought a slow, steady
climb.
Every 2010 amount converts to 2012 at the same ratio, 1.05: $1,000 becomes
$1,053, and $10,000 becomes $10,529.
Amount in 2010
Value in 2012
$1.00
$1.05
$5.00
$5.26
$10.00
$10.53
$20.00
$21.06
$50.00
$52.65
$100
$105
$500
$526
$1,000
$1,053
$5,000
$5,265
$10,000
$10,529
$100,000
$105,291
$1,000,000
$1,052,913
Inflation by spending category, 2010–2012
Between 2010 and 2012, energy rose the most, up 16.4%, while recreation rose the least, up 1.2%, against 5.3% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 2010
spending costs in 2012, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 2010 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.61%
$105
Energy
7.88%
$116
Transportation
6.01%
$112
Medical care
3.35%
$107
Food
3.17%
$106
Apparel
2.79%
$106
Core (all items less food & energy)
1.88%
$104
Education & communication
1.50%
$103
Housing
1.48%
$103
Recreation
0.61%
$101
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 2010
$100 from 2010 had already become $103 by
2011, on its way to $105 in 2012; 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 the smallest rise was 2.1% in 2012.
In 2012, prices rose 2.1% and $100 from 2010 had the buying
power of $105; 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 2010 to 2012: $100 is worth $105 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/2010-to-2012/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 2010 to 2012. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/2010-to-2012/