RPI inflation, 1985 to July 2026
£1.00 in 1985 is £4.43 today
That £1.00 bought 1 kg of bananas in 1985. Today it buys 0.92.
Prices up 343%3.7% a year on averageMultiply by 4.43
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 | 1985 | Today |
|---|---|---|
| kg of bananaslagged inflation97p then, about £1.09 today | 1 | 0.92 |
| first-class stampsoutran inflation17p then, £1.80 today | 5.9 | 0.56 |
| kg of roasting chickenlagged inflation£1.76 then, about £4.04 today | 0.57 | 0.25 |
| dozen eggslagged inflation84p then, about £2.38 today | 1.2 | 0.42 |
| pints of milklagged inflation23p then, about 70p today | 4.4 | 1.4 |
| kg of rump steaklagged inflation£6.31 then, about £20.21 today | 0.16 | 0.05 |
| sliced white loaveslagged inflation40p then, about £1.50 today | 2.5 | 0.67 |
| Same money, adjusted for inflation | £1.00 | £4.43 |
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
£34,378 → £278,784
Up 8.1×, against 4.4× for prices generally
Average pay
£6,838 → £39,260
A year's average earnings, up 5.7×
Years of pay for a house
5.0 → 7.1
Average house price divided by average annual pay
If it had tracked wages
£5.74
What £1.00 in 1985 would be today if it had grown with pay rather than prices