$100 in 2012 is worth $109 in 2018,
because prices increased 9.4% over that period, an average of
1.50% a year.
$100 in 2012 has
the same buying power as
$109
in 2018
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
9.4%
Average inflation rate
1.50% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$109
Price difference ($100 base)
$9.37
CPI in 2012
229.594
CPI in 2018
251.107
Inflation in 2012
2.07%
Inflation in 2018
2.44%
$100 in 2012 → 2018
$109
$100 in 2018 → 2012
$91.43
What happened to prices between 2012 and 2018
Between 2012 and 2018, the Consumer Price Index went from 229.594 to 251.107.
Cumulatively, prices increased 9.4%, which works out to an average of
1.50% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 2012 bought what
$0.91 buys in 2018: the 2012 dollar
lost 8.6% of its purchasing power over
these 6 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 2018 at the same ratio, 1.09: $1,000 becomes
$1,094, and $10,000 becomes $10,937.
Amount in 2012
Value in 2018
$1.00
$1.09
$5.00
$5.47
$10.00
$10.94
$20.00
$21.87
$50.00
$54.69
$100
$109
$500
$547
$1,000
$1,094
$5,000
$5,469
$10,000
$10,937
$100,000
$109,370
$1,000,000
$1,093,700
Inflation by spending category, 2012–2018
Between 2012 and 2018, medical care rose the most, up 16.8%, while energy fell 10.6%, against 9.4% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 2012
spending costs in 2018, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 2012 →
All items (CPI-U)
1.50%
$109
Medical care
2.62%
$117
Housing
2.51%
$116
Core (all items less food & energy)
1.92%
$112
Food
1.36%
$108
Recreation
0.63%
$104
Education & communication
0.36%
$102
Apparel
-0.08%
$99.52
Transportation
-0.52%
$96.93
Energy
-1.85%
$89.38
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 2012
$100 from 2012 had already become $103 by
2015, on its way to $109 in 2018; each row shows the CPI, that
year's inflation rate, and the running value.
Within the span, inflation peaked at 2.4% in 2018, and the smallest rise was 0.1% in 2015.
In 2018, prices rose 2.4% and $100 from 2012 had the buying
power of $109; the year's average CPI of 251.107 is the level
behind every 2018 figure on this page.
2018 was the peak of the late-2010s expansion. Consumer prices rose 2.4%,
the fastest since 2011, with gasoline averaging $2.72 a gallon after a summer
high. Unemployment fell to 3.7% in September, the lowest since 1969, and median
household income reached $63,179. The median new home sold for about $331,800,
and a first-class stamp cost 50 cents. The federal minimum wage was still $7.25.
Trade policy became a price factor for the first time in decades. New tariffs
on steel, aluminum, and a growing list of Chinese goods raised costs for
manufacturers and some consumer products, and retaliation cut into exports of
soybeans and other farm goods.
The Federal Reserve, led from February by Jerome Powell, raised rates four
times to 2.25–2.50%. A stock-market drop of nearly 20% in the fourth quarter
led the Fed to signal a pause in early 2019. Oil fell from over $75 a barrel in
October to below $50 by December, which pulled headline inflation lower going
into the next year.
MLA: “Inflation from 2012 to 2018: $100 is worth $109 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/2012-to-2018/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 2012 to 2018. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/2012-to-2018/