RPI inflation, 1983 to August 2026
£1,000 in 1983 is £4,966 today
That £1,000 bought 1,250 kg of bananas in 1983. Today it buys 911.
Prices up 397%3.7% a year on averageMultiply by 4.97
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 | 1983 | Today |
|---|---|---|
| kg of bananaslagged inflation80p then, about £1.10 today | 1,250 | 911 |
| first-class stampsoutran inflation12p then, £1.80 today | 8,333 | 556 |
| kg of roasting chickenlagged inflation£1.64 then, about £4.07 today | 610 | 246 |
| kg of rump steaklagged inflation£6.23 then, about £20.33 today | 161 | 49 |
| pints of milklagged inflation21p then, about 70p today | 4,762 | 1,429 |
| dozen eggslagged inflation68p then, about £2.39 today | 1,471 | 419 |
| sliced white loaveslagged inflation38p then, about £1.51 today | 2,632 | 664 |
| Same money, adjusted for inflation | £1,000 | £4,966 |
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
£27,623 → £278,784
Up 10.1×, against 5.0× for prices generally
Average pay
£5,912 → £39,312
A year's average earnings, up 6.6×
Years of pay for a house
4.7 → 7.1
Average house price divided by average annual pay
If it had tracked wages
£6,649
What £1,000 in 1983 would be today if it had grown with pay rather than prices