CPI inflation, 1997 to August 2026
£1,000 in 1997 is £2,049 today
That £1,000 bought 552 pints of lager in 1997. Today it buys 192.
Prices up 105%2.5% a year on averageMultiply by 2.05
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 | 1997 | Today |
|---|---|---|
| pints of lageroutran inflation£1.81 then, about £5.20 today | 552 | 192 |
| first-class stampsoutran inflation25p then, £1.80 today | 4,000 | 556 |
| packs of 20 cigarettesoutran inflation£2.94 then, about £17.87 today | 340 | 56 |
| kg of bananaslagged inflation£1.02 then, about £1.10 today | 980 | 911 |
| nips of whiskyoutran inflation£1.29 then, about £4.20 today | 775 | 238 |
| sliced white loavesoutran inflation52p then, about £1.51 today | 1,923 | 664 |
| pints of bitteroutran inflation£1.63 then, about £4.09 today | 613 | 244 |
| kg of roasting chickenlagged inflation£2.40 then, about £4.07 today | 417 | 246 |
| dozen eggslagged inflation£1.38 then, about £2.39 today | 725 | 419 |
| litres of unleadedoutran inflation62p then, about £1.48 today | 1,613 | 678 |
| kg of rump steak£8.68 then, about £20.33 today | 115 | 49 |
| boxes of tea bags£1.34 then, about £2.84 today | 746 | 352 |
| pints of milk35p then, about 70p today | 2,849 | 1,429 |
| Same money, adjusted for inflation | £1,000 | £2,049 |
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
£59,199 → £278,784
Up 4.7×, against 2.0× for prices generally
Average pay
£14,378 → £39,312
A year's average earnings, up 2.7×
Years of pay for a house
4.1 → 7.1
Average house price divided by average annual pay
If it had tracked wages
£2,734
What £1,000 in 1997 would be today if it had grown with pay rather than prices