CPI inflation, 1988 to August 2026
£1,000 in 1988 is £2,895 today
That £1,000 bought 1,010 pints of lager in 1988. Today it buys 192.
Prices up 190%2.8% a year on averageMultiply by 2.90
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 | 1988 | Today |
|---|---|---|
| pints of lageroutran inflation99p then, about £5.20 today | 1,010 | 192 |
| packs of 20 cigarettesoutran inflation£1.48 then, about £17.87 today | 676 | 56 |
| first-class stampsoutran inflation17p then, £1.80 today | 5,882 | 556 |
| kg of bananaslagged inflation£1.06 then, about £1.10 today | 943 | 911 |
| nips of whiskyoutran inflation71p then, about £4.20 today | 1,408 | 238 |
| pints of bitteroutran inflation88p then, about £4.09 today | 1,136 | 244 |
| kg of roasting chickenlagged inflation£1.83 then, about £4.07 today | 546 | 246 |
| dozen eggslagged inflation95p then, about £2.39 today | 1,053 | 419 |
| sliced white loaves46p then, about £1.51 today | 2,174 | 664 |
| pints of milk26p then, about 70p today | 3,817 | 1,429 |
| kg of rump steak£6.87 then, about £20.33 today | 146 | 49 |
| boxes of tea bags£1.00 then, about £2.84 today | 1,000 | 352 |
| Same money, adjusted for inflation | £1,000 | £2,895 |
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
£51,405 → £278,784
Up 5.4×, against 2.9× for prices generally
Average pay
£8,700 → £39,312
A year's average earnings, up 4.5×
Years of pay for a house
5.9 → 7.1
Average house price divided by average annual pay
If it had tracked wages
£4,519
What £1,000 in 1988 would be today if it had grown with pay rather than prices