RPI inflation, 1969 to August 2026
£1,000 in 1969 is £24,202 today
That £1,000 bought 5,882 kg of bananas in 1969. Today it buys 911.
Prices up 2,320%5.7% a year on averageMultiply by 24.20
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 | 1969 | Today |
|---|---|---|
| kg of bananaslagged inflation17p then, about £1.10 today | 5,882 | 911 |
| kg of roasting chickenlagged inflation43p then, about £4.07 today | 2,326 | 246 |
| dozen eggslagged inflation20p then, about £2.39 today | 5,000 | 419 |
| pints of milklagged inflation4p then, about 70p today | 22,727 | 1,429 |
| sliced white loaveslagged inflation8p then, about £1.51 today | 12,500 | 664 |
| Same money, adjusted for inflation | £1,000 | £24,202 |
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
£4,222 → £278,784
Up 66.0×, against 24.2× for prices generally
Average pay
£848 → £39,312
A year's average earnings, up 46.4×
Years of pay for a house
5.0 → 7.1
Average house price divided by average annual pay
If it had tracked wages
£46,380
What £1,000 in 1969 would be today if it had grown with pay rather than prices