RPI inflation, 1978 to July 2026
£1.00 in 1978 is £8.40 today
That £1.00 bought 2.1 kg of bananas in 1978. Today it buys 0.92.
Prices up 740%4.5% a year on averageMultiply by 8.40
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 | 1978 | Today |
|---|---|---|
| kg of bananaslagged inflation48p then, about £1.09 today | 2.1 | 0.92 |
| first-class stampsoutran inflation7p then, £1.80 today | 14 | 0.56 |
| kg of roasting chickenlagged inflation£1.18 then, about £4.04 today | 0.85 | 0.25 |
| dozen eggslagged inflation47p then, about £2.38 today | 2.1 | 0.42 |
| kg of rump steaklagged inflation£3.95 then, about £20.21 today | 0.25 | 0.05 |
| pints of milklagged inflation13p then, about 70p today | 7.6 | 1.4 |
| sliced white loaveslagged inflation26p then, about £1.50 today | 3.8 | 0.67 |
| Same money, adjusted for inflation | £1.00 | £8.40 |
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
£15,261 → £278,784
Up 18.3×, against 8.4× for prices generally
Average pay
£3,073 → £39,260
A year's average earnings, up 12.8×
Years of pay for a house
5.0 → 7.1
Average house price divided by average annual pay
If it had tracked wages
£12.77
What £1.00 in 1978 would be today if it had grown with pay rather than prices