According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, prices for apparel are 206.98% higher in 2025 versus 1920 (a $11,591,051,401,869.16 difference in value).
Between 1920 and 2025: Apparel experienced an average inflation rate of 1.07% per year. In other words, apparel costing $5,600,000,000,000 in the year 1920 would cost $17,191,051,401,869.16 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 $5,600,000,000,000 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 | $5,600,000,000,000.00 | 13.43% |
| 1921 | $4,137,850,467,289.72 | -26.11% |
| 1922 | $3,514,392,523,364.49 | -15.07% |
| 1923 | $3,545,794,392,523.36 | 0.89% |
| 1924 | $3,501,308,411,214.95 | -1.25% |
| 1925 | $3,441,121,495,327.10 | -1.72% |
| 1926 | $3,380,062,305,295.95 | -1.77% |
| 1927 | $3,305,919,003,115.26 | -2.19% |
| 1928 | $3,266,666,666,666.67 | -1.19% |
| 1929 | $3,227,414,330,218.07 | -1.20% |
| 1930 | $3,148,909,657,320.87 | -2.43% |
| 1931 | $2,826,168,224,299.07 | -10.25% |
| 1932 | $2,512,149,532,710.28 | -11.11% |
| 1933 | $2,494,704,049,844.24 | -0.69% |
| 1934 | $2,704,049,844,236.76 | 8.39% |
| 1935 | $2,721,495,327,102.80 | 0.65% |
| 1936 | $2,752,024,922,118.38 | 1.12% |
| 1937 | $2,896,822,429,906.54 | 5.26% |
| 1938 | $2,860,186,915,887.85 | -1.26% |
| 1939 | $2,828,785,046,728.97 | -1.10% |
| 1940 | $2,854,205,607,476.64 | 0.90% |
| 1941 | $2,985,190,510,424.16 | 4.59% |
| 1942 | $3,493,457,943,925.23 | 17.03% |
| 1943 | $3,644,428,468,727.53 | 4.32% |
| 1944 | $3,900,071,890,726.10 | 7.01% |
| 1945 | $4,101,365,923,795.83 | 5.16% |
| 1946 | $4,499,928,109,273.90 | 9.72% |
| 1947 | $5,215,528,396,836.81 | 15.90% |
| 1948 | $5,561,754,133,716.75 | 6.64% |
| 1949 | $5,342,343,637,670.74 | -3.94% |
| 1950 | $5,270,884,255,930.98 | -1.34% |
| 1951 | $5,746,944,644,140.91 | 9.03% |
| 1952 | $5,685,549,964,054.64 | -1.07% |
| 1953 | $5,648,310,567,936.74 | -0.65% |
| 1954 | $5,629,187,634,795.11 | -0.34% |
| 1955 | $5,611,071,171,818.84 | -0.32% |
| 1956 | $5,723,795,830,337.89 | 2.01% |
| 1957 | $5,822,429,906,542.06 | 1.72% |
| 1958 | $5,844,572,250,179.73 | 0.38% |
| 1959 | $5,890,869,877,785.77 | 0.79% |
| 1960 | $5,979,439,252,336.45 | 1.50% |
| 1961 | $6,026,743,350,107.84 | 0.79% |
| 1962 | $6,059,956,865,564.34 | 0.55% |
| 1963 | $6,134,435,657,800.14 | 1.23% |
| 1964 | $6,186,772,106,398.27 | 0.85% |
| 1965 | $6,246,153,846,153.85 | 0.96% |
| 1966 | $6,413,227,893,601.73 | 2.67% |
| 1967 | $6,674,910,136,592.38 | 4.08% |
| 1968 | $7,031,200,575,125.81 | 5.34% |
| 1969 | $7,435,801,581,595.97 | 5.75% |
| 1970 | $7,742,774,982,027.32 | 4.13% |
| 1971 | $7,993,386,053,199.14 | 3.24% |
| 1972 | $8,158,447,160,316.32 | 2.06% |
| 1973 | $8,457,368,799,424.87 | 3.66% |
| 1974 | $9,084,399,712,437.09 | 7.41% |
| 1975 | $9,489,000,718,907.26 | 4.45% |
| 1976 | $9,844,284,687,275.34 | 3.74% |
| 1977 | $10,285,118,619,698.06 | 4.48% |
| 1978 | $10,646,441,409,058.23 | 3.51% |
| 1979 | $11,112,437,095,614.66 | 4.38% |
| 1980 | $11,898,490,294,751.98 | 7.07% |
| 1981 | $12,466,139,468,008.63 | 4.77% |
| 1982 | $12,793,242,271,746.94 | 2.62% |
| 1983 | $13,109,273,903,666.43 | 2.47% |
| 1984 | $13,350,826,743,350.11 | 1.84% |
| 1985 | $13,741,337,167,505.39 | 2.92% |
| 1986 | $13,858,087,706,685.84 | 0.85% |
| 1987 | $14,468,008,626,887.13 | 4.40% |
| 1988 | $15,096,046,010,064.70 | 4.34% |
| 1989 | $15,515,744,069,015.10 | 2.78% |
| 1990 | $16,235,370,237,239.40 | 4.64% |
| 1991 | $16,840,258,806,613.94 | 3.73% |
| 1992 | $17,254,924,514,737.60 | 2.46% |
| 1993 | $17,488,425,593,098.49 | 1.35% |
| 1994 | $17,454,205,607,476.63 | -0.20% |
| 1995 | $17,265,995,686,556.43 | -1.08% |
| 1996 | $17,231,775,700,934.58 | -0.20% |
| 1997 | $17,382,746,225,736.88 | 0.88% |
| 1998 | $17,404,888,569,374.55 | 0.13% |
| 1999 | $17,178,432,782,171.10 | -1.30% |
| 2000 | $16,953,989,935,298.34 | -1.31% |
| 2001 | $16,652,048,885,693.75 | -1.78% |
| 2002 | $16,227,318,475,916.61 | -2.55% |
| 2003 | $15,815,672,178,289.00 | -2.54% |
| 2004 | $15,757,296,908,698.78 | -0.37% |
| 2005 | $15,640,546,369,518.33 | -0.74% |
| 2006 | $15,629,475,197,699.50 | -0.07% |
| 2007 | $15,569,861,969,805.89 | -0.38% |
| 2008 | $15,557,915,168,943.21 | -0.08% |
| 2009 | $15,711,160,316,319.20 | 0.98% |
| 2010 | $15,635,916,606,757.73 | -0.48% |
| 2011 | $15,977,099,928,109.27 | 2.18% |
| 2012 | $16,520,603,882,099.21 | 3.40% |
| 2013 | $16,670,638,389,647.73 | 0.91% |
| 2014 | $16,684,104,960,460.10 | 0.08% |
| 2015 | $16,473,229,331,416.25 | -1.26% |
| 2016 | $16,491,909,417,685.12 | 0.11% |
| 2017 | $16,435,214,953,271.03 | -0.34% |
| 2018 | $16,440,760,603,882.10 | 0.03% |
| 2019 | $16,231,062,544,931.70 | -1.28% |
| 2020 | $15,449,548,526,240.11 | -4.81% |
| 2021 | $15,830,819,554,277.50 | 2.47% |
| 2022 | $16,627,390,366,642.70 | 5.03% |
| 2023 | $17,085,062,544,931.70 | 2.75% |
| 2024 | $17,203,342,918,763.48 | 0.69% |
| 2025 | $17,191,051,401,869.16 | -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 |