According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, prices for apparel are 206.98% higher in 2025 versus 1920 (a $86,311,936,331.78 difference in value).
Between 1920 and 2025: Apparel experienced an average inflation rate of 1.07% per year. In other words, apparel costing $41,700,000,000 in the year 1920 would cost $128,011,936,331.78 in 2025 for an equivalent purchase. Compared to the overall inflation rate of 2.68% during this same period, inflation for apparel was lower.
In the year 1920: Pricing changed by 13.43%, which is significantly above the average yearly change for apparel during the 1920-2025 time period. Compared to inflation for all items in 1920 (15.62%), inflation for apparel was lower.
Below are calculations of equivalent buying power for Apparel, over time, for $41,700,000,000 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 | $41,700,000,000.00 | 13.43% |
| 1921 | $30,812,207,943.93 | -26.11% |
| 1922 | $26,169,672,897.20 | -15.07% |
| 1923 | $26,403,504,672.90 | 0.89% |
| 1924 | $26,072,242,990.65 | -1.25% |
| 1925 | $25,624,065,420.56 | -1.72% |
| 1926 | $25,169,392,523.36 | -1.77% |
| 1927 | $24,617,289,719.63 | -2.19% |
| 1928 | $24,325,000,000.00 | -1.19% |
| 1929 | $24,032,710,280.37 | -1.20% |
| 1930 | $23,448,130,841.12 | -2.43% |
| 1931 | $21,044,859,813.08 | -10.25% |
| 1932 | $18,706,542,056.07 | -11.11% |
| 1933 | $18,576,635,514.02 | -0.69% |
| 1934 | $20,135,514,018.69 | 8.39% |
| 1935 | $20,265,420,560.75 | 0.65% |
| 1936 | $20,492,757,009.35 | 1.12% |
| 1937 | $21,570,981,308.41 | 5.26% |
| 1938 | $21,298,177,570.09 | -1.26% |
| 1939 | $21,064,345,794.39 | -1.10% |
| 1940 | $21,253,638,184.25 | 0.90% |
| 1941 | $22,229,007,907.98 | 4.59% |
| 1942 | $26,013,785,046.73 | 17.03% |
| 1943 | $27,137,976,276.06 | 4.32% |
| 1944 | $29,041,606,757.73 | 7.01% |
| 1945 | $30,540,528,396.84 | 5.16% |
| 1946 | $33,508,393,242.27 | 9.72% |
| 1947 | $38,837,059,669.30 | 15.90% |
| 1948 | $41,415,204,888.57 | 6.64% |
| 1949 | $39,781,380,301.94 | -3.94% |
| 1950 | $39,249,263,120.06 | -1.34% |
| 1951 | $42,794,212,796.55 | 9.03% |
| 1952 | $42,337,041,696.62 | -1.07% |
| 1953 | $42,059,741,193.39 | -0.65% |
| 1954 | $41,917,343,637.67 | -0.34% |
| 1955 | $41,782,440,690.15 | -0.32% |
| 1956 | $42,621,836,808.05 | 2.01% |
| 1957 | $43,356,308,411.21 | 1.72% |
| 1958 | $43,521,189,791.52 | 0.38% |
| 1959 | $43,865,941,768.51 | 0.79% |
| 1960 | $44,525,467,289.72 | 1.50% |
| 1961 | $44,877,713,874.91 | 0.79% |
| 1962 | $45,125,035,945.36 | 0.55% |
| 1963 | $45,679,636,951.83 | 1.23% |
| 1964 | $46,069,356,578.00 | 0.85% |
| 1965 | $46,511,538,461.54 | 0.96% |
| 1966 | $47,755,643,422.00 | 2.67% |
| 1967 | $49,704,241,552.84 | 4.08% |
| 1968 | $52,357,332,854.06 | 5.34% |
| 1969 | $55,370,165,348.67 | 5.75% |
| 1970 | $57,656,020,848.31 | 4.13% |
| 1971 | $59,522,178,289.00 | 3.24% |
| 1972 | $60,751,294,033.07 | 2.06% |
| 1973 | $62,977,192,667.15 | 3.66% |
| 1974 | $67,646,333,572.97 | 7.41% |
| 1975 | $70,659,166,067.58 | 4.45% |
| 1976 | $73,304,762,760.60 | 3.74% |
| 1977 | $76,587,401,150.25 | 4.48% |
| 1978 | $79,277,965,492.45 | 3.51% |
| 1979 | $82,747,969,086.99 | 4.38% |
| 1980 | $88,601,258,087.71 | 7.07% |
| 1981 | $92,828,217,109.99 | 4.77% |
| 1982 | $95,263,964,773.54 | 2.62% |
| 1983 | $97,617,271,746.94 | 2.47% |
| 1984 | $99,415,977,713.87 | 1.84% |
| 1985 | $102,323,885,693.75 | 2.92% |
| 1986 | $103,193,260,244.43 | 0.85% |
| 1987 | $107,734,992,810.93 | 4.40% |
| 1988 | $112,411,628,324.95 | 4.34% |
| 1989 | $115,536,879,942.49 | 2.78% |
| 1990 | $120,895,524,802.30 | 4.64% |
| 1991 | $125,399,784,327.82 | 3.73% |
| 1992 | $128,487,562,904.39 | 2.46% |
| 1993 | $130,226,312,005.75 | 1.35% |
| 1994 | $129,971,495,327.10 | -0.20% |
| 1995 | $128,570,003,594.54 | -1.08% |
| 1996 | $128,315,186,915.89 | -0.20% |
| 1997 | $129,439,378,145.22 | 0.88% |
| 1998 | $129,604,259,525.52 | 0.13% |
| 1999 | $127,917,972,681.52 | -1.30% |
| 2000 | $126,246,675,053.92 | -1.31% |
| 2001 | $123,998,292,595.26 | -1.78% |
| 2002 | $120,835,567,936.74 | -2.55% |
| 2003 | $117,770,273,184.76 | -2.54% |
| 2004 | $117,335,585,909.42 | -0.37% |
| 2005 | $116,466,211,358.73 | -0.74% |
| 2006 | $116,383,770,668.58 | -0.07% |
| 2007 | $115,939,865,025.16 | -0.38% |
| 2008 | $115,850,904,025.88 | -0.08% |
| 2009 | $116,992,033,069.73 | 0.98% |
| 2010 | $116,431,736,161.04 | -0.48% |
| 2011 | $118,972,333,393.24 | 2.18% |
| 2012 | $123,019,496,764.92 | 3.40% |
| 2013 | $124,136,718,008.63 | 0.91% |
| 2014 | $124,236,995,866.28 | 0.08% |
| 2015 | $122,666,725,557.15 | -1.26% |
| 2016 | $122,805,825,485.26 | 0.11% |
| 2017 | $122,383,654,205.61 | -0.34% |
| 2018 | $122,424,949,496.76 | 0.03% |
| 2019 | $120,863,447,879.22 | -1.28% |
| 2020 | $115,043,959,561.47 | -4.81% |
| 2021 | $117,883,067,038.10 | 2.47% |
| 2022 | $123,814,674,694.46 | 5.03% |
| 2023 | $127,222,697,879.22 | 2.75% |
| 2024 | $128,103,464,234.36 | 0.69% |
| 2025 | $128,011,936,331.78 | -0.07%* |
* 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 | 1913 | 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 |
| CPI | 14.900 | 15.000 | 15.450 | 17.350 | 21.200 | 29.550 | 37.733 | 42.800 | 31.625 | 26.860 | 27.100 | 26.760 | 26.300 | 25.833 | 25.267 | 24.967 | 24.667 | 24.067 | 21.600 | 19.200 | 19.067 | 20.667 | 20.800 | 21.033 | 22.140 | 21.860 | 21.620 | 21.814 | 22.815 | 26.700 | 27.854 | 29.808 | 31.346 | 34.392 | 39.862 | 42.508 | 40.831 | 40.285 | 43.923 | 43.454 | 43.169 | 43.023 | 42.885 | 43.746 | 44.500 | 44.669 | 45.023 | 45.700 | 46.062 | 46.315 | 46.885 | 47.285 | 47.738 | 49.015 | 51.015 | 53.738 | 56.831 | 59.177 | 61.092 | 62.354 | 64.638 | 69.431 | 72.523 | 75.238 | 78.608 | 81.369 | 84.931 | 90.938 | 95.277 | 97.777 | 100.192 | 102.038 | 105.023 | 105.915 | 110.577 | 115.377 | 118.585 | 124.085 | 128.708 | 131.877 | 133.662 | 133.400 | 131.962 | 131.700 | 132.854 | 133.023 | 131.292 | 129.577 | 127.269 | 124.023 | 120.877 | 120.431 | 119.538 | 119.454 | 118.998 | 118.907 | 120.078 | 119.503 | 122.111 | 126.265 | 127.411 | 127.514 | 125.903 | 126.045 | 125.612 | 125.654 | 124.052 | 118.079 | 120.993 | 127.081 | 130.579 | 131.483 | 131.389 |