$100 in 2012 is worth $103 in 2015,
because prices increased 3.2% over that period, an average of
1.07% a year.
$100 in 2012 has
the same buying power as
$103
in 2015
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
3.2%
Average inflation rate
1.07% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$103
Price difference ($100 base)
$3.23
CPI in 2012
229.594
CPI in 2015
237.017
Inflation in 2012
2.07%
Inflation in 2015
0.12%
$100 in 2012 → 2015
$103
$100 in 2015 → 2012
$96.87
What happened to prices between 2012 and 2015
Between 2012 and 2015, the Consumer Price Index went from 229.594 to 237.017.
Cumulatively, prices increased 3.2%, which works out to an average of
1.07% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 2012 bought what
$0.97 buys in 2015: the 2012 dollar
lost 3.1% of its purchasing power over
these 3 years.
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.
Every 2012 amount converts to 2015 at the same ratio, 1.03: $1,000 becomes
$1,032, and $10,000 becomes $10,323.
Amount in 2012
Value in 2015
$1.00
$1.03
$5.00
$5.16
$10.00
$10.32
$20.00
$20.65
$50.00
$51.62
$100
$103
$500
$516
$1,000
$1,032
$5,000
$5,162
$10,000
$10,323
$100,000
$103,233
$1,000,000
$1,032,331
Inflation by spending category, 2012–2015
Between 2012 and 2015, medical care rose the most, up 7.7%, while energy fell 17.5%, against 3.2% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 2012
spending costs in 2015, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 2012 →
All items (CPI-U)
1.07%
$103
Medical care
2.49%
$108
Housing
2.25%
$107
Food
1.88%
$106
Core (all items less food & energy)
1.78%
$105
Education & communication
1.08%
$103
Recreation
0.36%
$101
Apparel
-0.10%
$99.71
Transportation
-2.88%
$91.59
Energy
-6.23%
$82.45
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 2012
$100 from 2012 had already become $101 by
2013, on its way to $103 in 2015; each row shows the CPI, that
year's inflation rate, and the running value.
Within the span, inflation peaked at 1.6% in 2014, and the smallest rise was 0.1% in 2015.
In 2015, prices rose 0.1% and $100 from 2012 had the buying
power of $103; the year's average CPI of 237.017 is the level
behind every 2015 figure on this page.
2015 was almost a year with no inflation at all. Consumer prices rose 0.1%,
the smallest increase since the 2009 decline, because energy prices kept
falling. Gasoline averaged $2.45 a gallon, down from $3.37 in 2014, and a
strong dollar made imported goods cheaper. The picture was different outside
food and energy: core prices rose about 1.8% as rents and medical costs
climbed.
Incomes finally showed real progress. Median household income reached $56,516,
a large jump from $53,657, and the median new home sold for about $296,400. The
federal minimum wage stayed at $7.25, and a first-class stamp stayed at 49
cents.
The Federal Reserve chose December to end its zero-rate policy, raising the
target range to 0.25–0.50% for the first time since 2006. It moved even
though headline inflation was far under 2%, arguing that the drag from
energy was temporary. Earlier, a currency shift in China in August had shaken
global markets and pushed oil below $40 a barrel. Prices in 2015 ended
the year barely above their 2014 level.
MLA: “Inflation from 2012 to 2015: $100 is worth $103 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/2012-to-2015/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 2012 to 2015. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/2012-to-2015/