RPI inflation, 1965 to July 2026
£1,000 in 1965 is £28,279 today
That £1,000 bought 4,545 dozen eggs in 1965. Today it buys 421.
Prices up 2,728%5.6% a year on averageMultiply by 28.28
What £1,000 buys
Official average shop prices, not a basket. Things marked as outrunning inflation got dearer faster than everything else; things that lagged got relatively cheaper.
| Item | 1965 | Today |
|---|---|---|
| dozen eggslagged inflation22p then, about £2.38 today | 4,545 | 421 |
| pints of milklagged inflation4p then, about 70p today | 25,000 | 1,439 |
| Same money, adjusted for inflation | £1,000 | £28,279 |
The ONS stopped publishing these average prices in January 2025. Today's figures are that last reading moved on with inflation, so treat them as close rather than exact.
Houses and wages
Inflation is one story. What people earned, and what a home cost, are the other two.
Average house
£3,353 → £278,784
Up 83.1×, against 28.3× for prices generally
Average pay
£660 → £39,260
A year's average earnings, up 59.4×
Years of pay for a house
5.1 → 7.1
Average house price divided by average annual pay
If it had tracked wages
£59,449
What £1,000 in 1965 would be today if it had grown with pay rather than prices