RPI inflation, 1980 to July 2026
£1.00 in 1980 is £6.27 today
That £1.00 bought 1.7 kg of bananas in 1980. Today it buys 0.92.
Prices up 527%4.0% a year on averageMultiply by 6.27
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 | 1980 | Today |
|---|---|---|
| kg of bananaslagged inflation60p then, about £1.09 today | 1.7 | 0.92 |
| first-class stampsoutran inflation12p then, £1.80 today | 8.3 | 0.56 |
| kg of roasting chickenlagged inflation£1.48 then, about £4.04 today | 0.68 | 0.25 |
| dozen eggslagged inflation64p then, about £2.38 today | 1.6 | 0.42 |
| kg of rump steaklagged inflation£5.07 then, about £20.21 today | 0.20 | 0.05 |
| pints of milklagged inflation17p then, about 70p today | 6 | 1.4 |
| sliced white loaveslagged inflation33p then, about £1.50 today | 3 | 0.67 |
| Same money, adjusted for inflation | £1.00 | £6.27 |
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
£23,288 → £278,784
Up 12.0×, against 6.3× for prices generally
Average pay
£4,358 → £39,260
A year's average earnings, up 9.0×
Years of pay for a house
5.3 → 7.1
Average house price divided by average annual pay
If it had tracked wages
£9.01
What £1.00 in 1980 would be today if it had grown with pay rather than prices