According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, prices for apparel are 205.92% higher in 2026 versus 1920 (a $6,177,729,791,706.48 difference in value).
Between 1920 and 2026:Apparel experienced an average inflation rate of 1.06% per year. In other words, apparel costing $3,000,000,000,000 in the year 1920 would cost $9,177,729,791,706.48 in 2026 for an equivalent purchase. Compared to the overall inflation rate of 2.67% during this same period, inflation for apparel was lower.
In the year 1920: Pricing changed by 28.26%, which is significantly above the average yearly change for apparel during the 1920-2026 time period. Compared to inflation for all items in 1920 (15.63%), inflation for apparel was much higher.
Below are calculations of equivalent buying power for Apparel, over time, for $3,000,000,000,000 beginning in 1920. Each of the amounts below is equivalent in terms of what it could buy at the time:
| Year | USD Value | Inflation Rate |
|---|---|---|
| 1920 | $3,000,000,000,000.00 | 28.26% |
| 1921 | $2,399,770,686,030.96 | -20.01% |
| 1922 | $1,868,335,562,774.70 | -22.15% |
| 1923 | $1,857,443,149,245.18 | -0.58% |
| 1924 | $1,849,417,160,328.68 | -0.43% |
| 1925 | $1,815,020,064,972.29 | -1.86% |
| 1926 | $1,789,222,243,455.00 | -1.42% |
| 1927 | $1,754,251,863,176.00 | -1.95% |
| 1928 | $1,722,147,907,510.03 | -1.83% |
| 1929 | $1,704,376,074,909.23 | -1.03% |
| 1930 | $1,682,591,247,850.18 | -1.28% |
| 1931 | $1,555,321,995,031.53 | -7.56% |
| 1932 | $1,367,857,825,339.19 | -12.05% |
| 1933 | $1,274,985,667,876.94 | -6.79% |
| 1934 | $1,408,404,704,410.82 | 10.46% |
| 1935 | $1,429,331,608,578.69 | 1.49% |
| 1936 | $1,445,251,289,891.08 | 1.11% |
| 1937 | $1,511,752,340,913.43 | 4.60% |
| 1938 | $1,512,325,625,836.04 | 0.04% |
| 1939 | $1,487,674,374,163.96 | -1.63% |
| 1940 | $1,500,286,642,461.30 | 0.85% |
| 1941 | $1,569,654,118,096.69 | 4.62% |
| 1942 | $1,836,804,892,031.34 | 17.02% |
| 1943 | $1,916,491,496,273.65 | 4.34% |
| 1944 | $2,050,640,168,163.58 | 7.00% |
| 1945 | $2,156,124,593,923.18 | 5.14% |
| 1946 | $2,365,946,875,597.17 | 9.73% |
| 1947 | $2,742,021,784,827.06 | 15.90% |
| 1948 | $2,924,326,390,215.94 | 6.65% |
| 1949 | $2,809,096,120,772.02 | -3.94% |
| 1950 | $2,771,259,315,879.99 | -1.35% |
| 1951 | $3,021,784,827,059.05 | 9.04% |
| 1952 | $2,989,107,586,470.48 | -1.08% |
| 1953 | $2,970,189,184,024.46 | -0.63% |
| 1954 | $2,959,296,770,494.94 | -0.37% |
| 1955 | $2,950,124,211,733.23 | -0.31% |
| 1956 | $3,009,745,843,684.31 | 2.02% |
| 1957 | $3,061,341,486,718.90 | 1.71% |
| 1958 | $3,073,380,470,093.64 | 0.39% |
| 1959 | $3,097,458,436,843.11 | 0.78% |
| 1960 | $3,143,894,515,574.24 | 1.50% |
| 1961 | $3,168,545,767,246.32 | 0.78% |
| 1962 | $3,186,317,599,847.12 | 0.56% |
| 1963 | $3,225,300,974,584.37 | 1.22% |
| 1964 | $3,252,818,650,869.48 | 0.85% |
| 1965 | $3,283,776,036,690.24 | 0.95% |
| 1966 | $3,372,061,914,771.64 | 2.69% |
| 1967 | $3,509,650,296,197.21 | 4.08% |
| 1968 | $3,697,114,465,889.55 | 5.34% |
| 1969 | $3,909,803,172,176.57 | 5.75% |
| 1970 | $4,070,896,235,429.01 | 4.12% |
| 1971 | $4,202,751,767,628.51 | 3.24% |
| 1972 | $4,289,891,075,864.70 | 2.07% |
| 1973 | $4,446,971,144,658.90 | 3.66% |
| 1974 | $4,776,609,975,157.65 | 7.41% |
| 1975 | $4,989,298,681,444.68 | 4.45% |
| 1976 | $5,176,189,566,214.41 | 3.75% |
| 1977 | $5,407,796,674,947.45 | 4.47% |
| 1978 | $5,597,553,984,330.21 | 3.51% |
| 1979 | $5,842,919,931,205.81 | 4.38% |
| 1980 | $6,256,258,360,405.12 | 7.07% |
| 1981 | $6,554,366,520,160.52 | 4.76% |
| 1982 | $6,726,351,996,942.48 | 2.62% |
| 1983 | $6,892,604,624,498.38 | 2.47% |
| 1984 | $7,019,300,592,394.42 | 1.84% |
| 1985 | $7,225,109,879,610.17 | 2.93% |
| 1986 | $7,286,451,366,329.07 | 0.85% |
| 1987 | $7,606,917,638,066.12 | 4.40% |
| 1988 | $7,937,129,753,487.48 | 4.34% |
| 1989 | $8,157,844,448,691.00 | 2.78% |
| 1990 | $8,536,212,497,611.31 | 4.64% |
| 1991 | $8,854,385,629,657.94 | 3.73% |
| 1992 | $9,072,233,900,248.42 | 2.46% |
| 1993 | $9,194,916,873,686.22 | 1.35% |
| 1994 | $9,177,145,041,085.42 | -0.19% |
| 1995 | $9,077,966,749,474.49 | -1.08% |
| 1996 | $9,060,194,916,873.69 | -0.20% |
| 1997 | $9,139,308,236,193.39 | 0.87% |
| 1998 | $9,151,347,219,568.13 | 0.13% |
| 1999 | $9,032,103,955,665.97 | -1.30% |
| 2000 | $8,914,007,261,609.02 | -1.31% |
| 2001 | $8,755,207,338,047.01 | -1.78% |
| 2002 | $8,532,199,503,153.07 | -2.55% |
| 2003 | $8,315,497,802,407.80 | -2.54% |
| 2004 | $8,285,113,701,509.65 | -0.37% |
| 2005 | $8,223,772,214,790.75 | -0.74% |
| 2006 | $8,217,466,080,642.08 | -0.08% |
| 2007 | $8,186,388,304,987.58 | -0.38% |
| 2008 | $8,180,105,102,235.81 | -0.08% |
| 2009 | $8,260,680,298,108.16 | 0.99% |
| 2010 | $8,221,117,905,599.08 | -0.48% |
| 2011 | $8,400,504,490,731.90 | 2.18% |
| 2012 | $8,686,269,826,103.57 | 3.40% |
| 2013 | $8,765,159,564,303.46 | 0.91% |
| 2014 | $8,772,239,633,097.65 | 0.08% |
| 2015 | $8,661,360,596,216.32 | -1.26% |
| 2016 | $8,671,186,699,789.80 | 0.11% |
| 2017 | $8,641,375,883,814.26 | -0.34% |
| 2018 | $8,644,293,904,070.32 | 0.03% |
| 2019 | $8,534,034,014,905.41 | -1.28% |
| 2020 | $8,123,126,313,777.95 | -4.81% |
| 2021 | $8,323,592,585,515.00 | 2.47% |
| 2022 | $8,742,417,351,423.66 | 5.03% |
| 2023 | $8,983,053,697,687.75 | 2.75% |
| 2024 | $9,045,243,646,092.11 | 0.69% |
| 2025 | $9,057,001,719,854.77 | 0.13% |
| 2026 | $9,177,729,791,706.48 | 1.33%* |
* Not final. See inflation summary for latest details.
** Extended periods of 0% inflation usually indicate incomplete underlying data. This can manifest as a sharp increase in inflation later on.
Raw Consumer Price Index data from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics for Apparel:
| Year | 1914 | 1915 | 1916 | 1917 | 1918 | 1919 | 1920 | 1921 | 1922 | 1923 | 1924 | 1925 | 1926 | 1927 | 1928 | 1929 | 1930 | 1931 | 1932 | 1933 | 1934 | 1935 | 1936 | 1937 | 1938 | 1939 | 1940 | 1941 | 1942 | 1943 | 1944 | 1945 | 1946 | 1947 | 1948 | 1949 | 1950 | 1951 | 1952 | 1953 | 1954 | 1955 | 1956 | 1957 | 1958 | 1959 | 1960 | 1961 | 1962 | 1963 | 1964 | 1965 | 1966 | 1967 | 1968 | 1969 | 1970 | 1971 | 1972 | 1973 | 1974 | 1975 | 1976 | 1977 | 1978 | 1979 | 1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 | 1985 | 1986 | 1987 | 1988 | 1989 | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 |
| CPI | 15.000 | 15.050 | 15.792 | 18.258 | 23.000 | 34.000 | 43.608 | 34.883 | 27.158 | 27.000 | 26.883 | 26.383 | 26.008 | 25.500 | 25.033 | 24.775 | 24.458 | 22.608 | 19.883 | 18.533 | 20.473 | 20.777 | 21.008 | 21.975 | 21.983 | 21.625 | 21.808 | 22.817 | 26.700 | 27.858 | 29.808 | 31.342 | 34.392 | 39.858 | 42.508 | 40.833 | 40.283 | 43.925 | 43.450 | 43.175 | 43.017 | 42.883 | 43.750 | 44.500 | 44.675 | 45.025 | 45.700 | 46.058 | 46.317 | 46.883 | 47.283 | 47.733 | 49.017 | 51.017 | 53.742 | 56.833 | 59.175 | 61.092 | 62.358 | 64.642 | 69.433 | 72.525 | 75.242 | 78.608 | 81.367 | 84.933 | 90.942 | 95.275 | 97.775 | 100.192 | 102.033 | 105.025 | 105.917 | 110.575 | 115.375 | 118.583 | 124.083 | 128.708 | 131.875 | 133.658 | 133.400 | 131.958 | 131.700 | 132.850 | 133.025 | 131.292 | 129.575 | 127.267 | 124.025 | 120.875 | 120.433 | 119.542 | 119.450 | 118.998 | 118.907 | 120.078 | 119.503 | 122.111 | 126.265 | 127.411 | 127.514 | 125.902 | 126.045 | 125.612 | 125.654 | 124.052 | 118.079 | 120.993 | 127.081 | 130.579 | 131.483 | 131.654 | 133.409 |