RPI inflation, 1974 to July 2026
£1.00 in 1974 is £15.24 today
That £1.00 bought 33 first-class stamps in 1974. Today it buys 0.56.
Prices up 1,424%5.3% a year on averageMultiply by 15.24
What £1.00 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 | 1974 | Today |
|---|---|---|
| first-class stampsoutran inflation3p then, £1.80 today | 33 | 0.56 |
| kg of bananaslagged inflation27p then, about £1.09 today | 3.7 | 0.92 |
| kg of roasting chickenlagged inflation66p then, about £4.04 today | 1.5 | 0.25 |
| dozen eggslagged inflation36p then, about £2.38 today | 2.8 | 0.42 |
| kg of rump steaklagged inflation£2.05 then, about £20.21 today | 0.49 | 0.05 |
| sliced white loaveslagged inflation14p then, about £1.50 today | 7.1 | 0.67 |
| pints of milk5p then, about 70p today | 19 | 1.4 |
| Same money, adjusted for inflation | £1.00 | £15.24 |
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
£10,078 → £278,784
Up 27.7×, against 15.2× for prices generally
Average pay
£1,643 → £39,260
A year's average earnings, up 23.9×
Years of pay for a house
6.1 → 7.1
Average house price divided by average annual pay
If it had tracked wages
£23.89
What £1.00 in 1974 would be today if it had grown with pay rather than prices