$100 in 1989 is worth $238 today
What New Zealand dollars from 1989 are worth in 2025 money, adjusted for inflation with the official price index from the OECD, from Stats NZ.
1989 money in 2025 money
- Prices since
- +137.6%
- Per year
- +2.43% compounded
- Multiplier
- ×2.376
| In 1989 | Worth in 2025 |
|---|---|
| $1 | $2.38 |
| $5 | $11.88 |
| $10 | $23.76 |
| $20 | $47.53 |
| $50 | $119 |
| $100 | $238 |
| $1,000 | $2,376 |
| $10,000 | $23,765 |
OECD, from Stats NZ — Consumers Price Index, all groups, 2015 = 100. Retrieved 2026-08-06. Open in the calculator to compare any two years.
Inflation in 1989
Prices in New Zealand rose 5.7% during 1989 — close to the middle of the range in this series, 26th highest of 75. Across the 1980s, prices rose an average of 11.9% a year, peaking at 17.1% in 1980.
| Year | Rate | Bar |
|---|---|---|
| 1980 | +17.1% | |
| 1981 | +15.4% | |
| 1982 | +16.2% | |
| 1983 | +7.3% | |
| 1984 | +6.2% | |
| 1985 | +15.4% | |
| 1986 | +13.2% | |
| 1987 | +15.7% | |
| 1988 | +6.4% | |
| 1989 | +5.7% |
How far the New Zealand dollar has fallen since 1989
A New Zealand dollar in 2025 buys about 42.1% of what one bought in 1989, a loss of 57.9% of its buying power. Prices had doubled from their 1989 level by 2022, 33 years later. Read the other way, here is what today's money would have been in 1989:
| In 2025 | Same as, in 1989 |
|---|---|
| $10 | $4.21 |
| $20 | $8.42 |
| $50 | $21.04 |
| $100 | $42.08 |
| $1,000 | $421 |
| $10,000 | $4,208 |
What these numbers can and cannot tell you
The figures compare the price index in 1989 with 2025: the cost of the same broad basket of goods and services, averaged across each year. That is the right measure for "what would this amount be in today's money" — a wage, a price, an inheritance. It is not a measure of what any particular thing cost: housing, education, and healthcare have mostly risen faster than the average, while electronics and clothing have risen far slower or fallen. And it says nothing about exchange rates, so it cannot turn 1989 New Zealand dollars into another currency.
Common questions
How much is $100 from 1989 worth today?
$100 in 1989 is worth about $238 in 2025 money, adjusted with the official price index published by the OECD, from Stats NZ. Prices have risen 137.6% over that span, an average of 2.43% a year compounded.
What was the inflation rate in 1989?
Prices in New Zealand rose 5.7% during 1989 — close to the middle of the range in this series, 26th highest of 75. That is the change in the annual average of the index from 1988 to 1989, which is the basis statistics agencies use for long-run comparison; a news headline quoting a twelve-month change at a particular point in 1989 may differ.
How much buying power has the New Zealand dollar lost since 1989?
About 57.9%. Put the other way round, $100 in 2025 would have bought what $42.08 bought in 1989. Prices had doubled from their 1989 level by 2022, 33 years later.
1989 in other countries: United States , United Kingdom , Canada , Australia .