RPI inflation, 1971 to July 2026
£1,000 in 1971 is £20,676 today
That £1,000 bought 5,556 kg of bananas in 1971. Today it buys 917.
Prices up 1,968%5.6% a year on averageMultiply by 20.68
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 | 1971 | Today |
|---|---|---|
| kg of bananaslagged inflation18p then, about £1.09 today | 5,556 | 917 |
| first-class stampsoutran inflation3p then, £1.80 today | 33,333 | 556 |
| kg of roasting chickenlagged inflation47p then, about £4.04 today | 2,128 | 247 |
| dozen eggslagged inflation23p then, about £2.38 today | 4,348 | 421 |
| pints of milklagged inflation6p then, about 70p today | 18,182 | 1,439 |
| kg of rump steaklagged inflation£1.44 then, about £20.21 today | 694 | 49 |
| sliced white loaveslagged inflation10p then, about £1.50 today | 10,000 | 668 |
| Same money, adjusted for inflation | £1,000 | £20,676 |
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
£5,106 → £278,784
Up 54.6×, against 20.7× for prices generally
Average pay
£1,071 → £39,260
A year's average earnings, up 36.7×
Years of pay for a house
4.8 → 7.1
Average house price divided by average annual pay
If it had tracked wages
£36,650
What £1,000 in 1971 would be today if it had grown with pay rather than prices