Inflation Rate in 1990

What happened to inflation in 1990

A jump in oil prices around the Gulf War lifted inflation before a recession cooled it.

In 1990, inflation ran at 5.40%, up from 4.83% in 1989. That made it the 14th-highest of the 65 years on record, and above the long-run average of 3.76%. For comparison, inflation sits at about 2.95% today.

What 1990's money is worth today

A rate is abstract until it's a price tag. Using the Consumer Price Index, here's what a given sum of 1990 dollars would have to grow to in order to buy the same goods today — the cumulative effect of every year of inflation in between:

Cumulative inflation since 1990 comes to about 140% — prices have risen roughly 2.4× over that span. Put another way, $100 today had the buying power of about $42 in 1990. To run your own figure across any two years, use the inflation calculator.

How 1990 compared

Across the full 1960–2024 record, inflation has averaged about 3.76%, so 1990 ran above that long-run norm. Within the 1990s, inflation averaged roughly 3%, and 1990 sat above its own decade. Five years earlier, in 1985, the rate was 3.55%. The following year, 1991, inflation eased to 4.23%.

This is one year out of the whole story. For the complete history — every year since 1960, the all-time high and the deflation low, the decade-by-decade view, and what drives inflation over time — see historical inflation rates, 1960–today.