RPI inflation, 1982 to July 2026
£1,000 in 1982 is £5,164 today
That £1,000 bought 1,429 kg of bananas in 1982. Today it buys 917.
Prices up 416%3.8% a year on averageMultiply by 5.16
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 | 1982 | Today |
|---|---|---|
| kg of bananaslagged inflation70p then, about £1.09 today | 1,429 | 917 |
| first-class stampsoutran inflation12p then, £1.80 today | 8,333 | 556 |
| kg of roasting chickenlagged inflation£1.59 then, about £4.04 today | 629 | 247 |
| dozen eggslagged inflation73p then, about £2.38 today | 1,370 | 421 |
| kg of rump steaklagged inflation£6.01 then, about £20.21 today | 166 | 49 |
| pints of milklagged inflation20p then, about 70p today | 4,950 | 1,439 |
| sliced white loaveslagged inflation37p then, about £1.50 today | 2,703 | 668 |
| Same money, adjusted for inflation | £1,000 | £5,164 |
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
£24,851 → £278,784
Up 11.2×, against 5.2× for prices generally
Average pay
£5,439 → £39,260
A year's average earnings, up 7.2×
Years of pay for a house
4.6 → 7.1
Average house price divided by average annual pay
If it had tracked wages
£7,218
What £1,000 in 1982 would be today if it had grown with pay rather than prices