CPI inflation, 1994 to July 2026
£1.00 in 1994 is £2.18 today
That £1.00 bought 0.63 pints of lager in 1994. Today it buys 0.19.
Prices up 118%2.4% a year on averageMultiply by 2.18
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 | 1994 | Today |
|---|---|---|
| pints of lageroutran inflation£1.58 then, about £5.17 today | 0.63 | 0.19 |
| first-class stampsoutran inflation20p then, £1.80 today | 5 | 0.56 |
| packs of 20 cigarettesoutran inflation£2.41 then, about £17.76 today | 0.41 | 0.06 |
| kg of bananaslagged inflation£1.00 then, about £1.09 today | 1 | 0.92 |
| nips of whiskyoutran inflation£1.09 then, about £4.17 today | 0.92 | 0.24 |
| sliced white loavesoutran inflation50p then, about £1.50 today | 2 | 0.67 |
| pints of bitteroutran inflation£1.41 then, about £4.07 today | 0.71 | 0.25 |
| litres of unleadedoutran inflation51p then, about £1.47 today | 2 | 0.68 |
| pints of milk36p then, about 70p today | 2.8 | 1.4 |
| kg of rump steak£8.31 then, about £20.21 today | 0.12 | 0.05 |
| kg of roasting chicken£2.02 then, about £4.04 today | 0.50 | 0.25 |
| dozen eggs£1.18 then, about £2.38 today | 0.85 | 0.42 |
| boxes of tea bags£1.24 then, about £2.83 today | 0.81 | 0.35 |
| Same money, adjusted for inflation | £1.00 | £2.18 |
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
£51,633 → £278,784
Up 5.4×, against 2.2× for prices generally
Average pay
£12,870 → £39,260
A year's average earnings, up 3.1×
Years of pay for a house
4.0 → 7.1
Average house price divided by average annual pay
If it had tracked wages
£3.05
What £1.00 in 1994 would be today if it had grown with pay rather than prices