$100 in 2016 is worth $105 in 2018,
because prices increased 4.6% over that period, an average of
2.29% a year.
$100 in 2016 has
the same buying power as
$105
in 2018
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
4.6%
Average inflation rate
2.29% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$105
Price difference ($100 base)
$4.62
CPI in 2016
240.007
CPI in 2018
251.107
Inflation in 2016
1.26%
Inflation in 2018
2.44%
$100 in 2016 → 2018
$105
$100 in 2018 → 2016
$95.58
What happened to prices between 2016 and 2018
Between 2016 and 2018, the Consumer Price Index went from 240.007 to 251.107.
Cumulatively, prices increased 4.6%, which works out to an average of
2.29% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 2016 bought what
$0.96 buys in 2018: the 2016 dollar
lost 4.4% of its purchasing power over
these 2 years.
2016 opened with the cheapest oil in more than a decade and closed with a
change in political direction. Crude fell to about $26 a barrel in February,
and gasoline averaged $2.14 a gallon for the year, its lowest annual
average since 2004. Headline inflation was 1.3%, a modest rebound from 2015’s
0.1%, though prices excluding food and energy rose faster, driven by rents and
health care.
Median household income rose to $59,039, the second large gain in a row, and
the median new home sold for about $307,800. The federal minimum wage held at
$7.25, and a first-class stamp fell to 47 cents after a January rate cut, a
rare decrease.
Two votes changed the outlook. Britain’s June decision to leave the European
Union unsettled currency markets, and the U.S. election in November raised
expectations of tax cuts, deficits, and faster growth, sending long-term
interest rates higher. OPEC’s November output cut ended the oil slump, and the
Federal Reserve made its second rate increase in December, to 0.50–0.75%.
Every 2016 amount converts to 2018 at the same ratio, 1.05: $1,000 becomes
$1,046, and $10,000 becomes $10,462.
Amount in 2016
Value in 2018
$1.00
$1.05
$5.00
$5.23
$10.00
$10.46
$20.00
$20.92
$50.00
$52.31
$100
$105
$500
$523
$1,000
$1,046
$5,000
$5,231
$10,000
$10,462
$100,000
$104,625
$1,000,000
$1,046,249
Inflation by spending category, 2016–2018
Between 2016 and 2018, energy rose the most, up 16.0%, while education & communication fell 1.7%, against 4.6% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 2016
spending costs in 2018, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 2016 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.29%
$105
Energy
7.72%
$116
Transportation
3.97%
$108
Housing
2.93%
$106
Medical care
2.24%
$105
Core (all items less food & energy)
1.99%
$104
Food
1.13%
$102
Recreation
0.90%
$102
Apparel
-0.16%
$99.69
Education & communication
-0.85%
$98.31
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 2016
$100 from 2016 had already become $102 by
2017, on its way to $105 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 2.1% in 2017.
In 2018, prices rose 2.4% and $100 from 2016 had the buying
power of $105; 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 2016 to 2018: $100 is worth $105 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/2016-to-2018/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 2016 to 2018. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/2016-to-2018/