RPI inflation, 1972 to July 2026
£1,000 in 1972 is £19,304 today
That £1,000 bought 5,000 kg of bananas in 1972. Today it buys 917.
Prices up 1,830%5.6% a year on averageMultiply by 19.30
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 | 1972 | Today |
|---|---|---|
| kg of bananaslagged inflation20p then, about £1.09 today | 5,000 | 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 |
| kg of rump steaklagged inflation£1.66 then, about £20.21 today | 602 | 49 |
| pints of milklagged inflation6p then, about 70p today | 17,544 | 1,439 |
| dozen eggslagged inflation19p then, about £2.38 today | 5,263 | 421 |
| sliced white loaveslagged inflation10p then, about £1.50 today | 10,000 | 668 |
| Same money, adjusted for inflation | £1,000 | £19,304 |
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
£6,960 → £278,784
Up 40.1×, against 19.3× for prices generally
Average pay
£1,206 → £39,260
A year's average earnings, up 32.5×
Years of pay for a house
5.8 → 7.1
Average house price divided by average annual pay
If it had tracked wages
£32,543
What £1,000 in 1972 would be today if it had grown with pay rather than prices