RPI inflation, 1986 to August 2026
£1,000 in 1986 is £4,311 today
That £1,000 bought 990 kg of bananas in 1986. Today it buys 911.
Prices up 331%3.7% a year on averageMultiply by 4.31
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 | 1986 | Today |
|---|---|---|
| kg of bananaslagged inflation£1.01 then, about £1.10 today | 990 | 911 |
| first-class stampsoutran inflation17p then, £1.80 today | 5,882 | 556 |
| kg of roasting chickenlagged inflation£1.77 then, about £4.07 today | 565 | 246 |
| dozen eggslagged inflation89p then, about £2.39 today | 1,124 | 419 |
| pints of milklagged inflation24p then, about 70p today | 4,184 | 1,429 |
| kg of rump steaklagged inflation£6.44 then, about £20.33 today | 155 | 49 |
| sliced white loaveslagged inflation43p then, about £1.51 today | 2,326 | 664 |
| Same money, adjusted for inflation | £1,000 | £4,311 |
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
£37,627 → £278,784
Up 7.4×, against 4.3× for prices generally
Average pay
£7,384 → £39,312
A year's average earnings, up 5.3×
Years of pay for a house
5.1 → 7.1
Average house price divided by average annual pay
If it had tracked wages
£5,324
What £1,000 in 1986 would be today if it had grown with pay rather than prices