RPI inflation, 1973 to August 2026
£1,000 in 1973 is £17,782 today
That £1,000 bought 4,348 kg of bananas in 1973. Today it buys 911.
Prices up 1,678%5.5% a year on averageMultiply by 17.78
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 | 1973 | Today |
|---|---|---|
| kg of bananaslagged inflation23p then, about £1.10 today | 4,348 | 911 |
| first-class stampsoutran inflation3p then, £1.80 today | 33,333 | 556 |
| kg of roasting chickenlagged inflation57p then, about £4.07 today | 1,754 | 246 |
| dozen eggslagged inflation33p then, about £2.39 today | 3,030 | 419 |
| kg of rump steaklagged inflation£1.99 then, about £20.33 today | 503 | 49 |
| pints of milklagged inflation6p then, about 70p today | 16,667 | 1,429 |
| sliced white loaveslagged inflation11p then, about £1.51 today | 9,091 | 664 |
| Same money, adjusted for inflation | £1,000 | £17,782 |
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
£9,045 → £278,784
Up 30.8×, against 17.8× for prices generally
Average pay
£1,383 → £39,312
A year's average earnings, up 28.4×
Years of pay for a house
6.5 → 7.1
Average house price divided by average annual pay
If it had tracked wages
£28,421
What £1,000 in 1973 would be today if it had grown with pay rather than prices