RPI inflation, 1991 to July 2026
£1.00 in 1991 is £3.14 today
That £1.00 bought 0.73 pints of lager in 1991. Today it buys 0.19.
Prices up 214%3.3% a year on averageMultiply by 3.14
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 | 1991 | Today |
|---|---|---|
| pints of lageroutran inflation£1.37 then, about £5.17 today | 0.73 | 0.19 |
| kg of bananaslagged inflation£1.19 then, about £1.09 today | 0.84 | 0.92 |
| packs of 20 cigarettesoutran inflation£1.86 then, about £17.76 today | 0.54 | 0.06 |
| first-class stampsoutran inflation20p then, £1.80 today | 5 | 0.56 |
| kg of roasting chickenlagged inflation£2.30 then, about £4.04 today | 0.43 | 0.25 |
| boxes of tea bagslagged inflation£1.50 then, about £2.83 today | 0.67 | 0.35 |
| pints of milklagged inflation32p then, about 70p today | 3.1 | 1.4 |
| nips of whiskyoutran inflation95p then, about £4.17 today | 1.1 | 0.24 |
| dozen eggslagged inflation99p then, about £2.38 today | 1 | 0.42 |
| kg of rump steaklagged inflation£8.10 then, about £20.21 today | 0.12 | 0.05 |
| sliced white loaves53p then, about £1.50 today | 1.9 | 0.67 |
| pints of bitter£1.24 then, about £4.07 today | 0.81 | 0.25 |
| litres of unleaded45p then, about £1.47 today | 2.2 | 0.68 |
| Same money, adjusted for inflation | £1.00 | £3.14 |
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
£54,626 → £278,784
Up 5.1×, against 3.1× for prices generally
Average pay
£11,357 → £39,260
A year's average earnings, up 3.5×
Years of pay for a house
4.8 → 7.1
Average house price divided by average annual pay
If it had tracked wages
£3.46
What £1.00 in 1991 would be today if it had grown with pay rather than prices