CPI inflation, 1991 to August 2026
£1,000 in 1991 is £2,389 today
That £1,000 bought 730 pints of lager in 1991. Today it buys 192.
Prices up 139%2.5% a year on averageMultiply by 2.39
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 | 1991 | Today |
|---|---|---|
| pints of lageroutran inflation£1.37 then, about £5.20 today | 730 | 192 |
| packs of 20 cigarettesoutran inflation£1.86 then, about £17.87 today | 538 | 56 |
| first-class stampsoutran inflation20p then, £1.80 today | 5,000 | 556 |
| kg of bananaslagged inflation£1.19 then, about £1.10 today | 840 | 911 |
| nips of whiskyoutran inflation95p then, about £4.20 today | 1,053 | 238 |
| pints of bitteroutran inflation£1.24 then, about £4.09 today | 806 | 244 |
| litres of unleadedoutran inflation45p then, about £1.48 today | 2,222 | 678 |
| kg of roasting chickenlagged inflation£2.30 then, about £4.07 today | 435 | 246 |
| boxes of tea bagslagged inflation£1.50 then, about £2.84 today | 667 | 352 |
| sliced white loavesoutran inflation53p then, about £1.51 today | 1,887 | 664 |
| pints of milk32p then, about 70p today | 3,086 | 1,429 |
| kg of rump steak£8.10 then, about £20.33 today | 123 | 49 |
| dozen eggs99p then, about £2.39 today | 1,010 | 419 |
| Same money, adjusted for inflation | £1,000 | £2,389 |
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 2.4× for prices generally
Average pay
£11,357 → £39,312
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
£3,462
What £1,000 in 1991 would be today if it had grown with pay rather than prices