RPI inflation, 2001 to July 2026
£1.00 in 2001 is £2.42 today
That £1.00 bought 0.49 pints of lager in 2001. Today it buys 0.19.
Prices up 142%3.5% a year on averageMultiply by 2.42
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 | 2001 | Today |
|---|---|---|
| pints of lager£2.03 then, about £5.17 today | 0.49 | 0.19 |
| first-class stampsoutran inflation27p then, £1.80 today | 3.7 | 0.56 |
| kg of bananaslagged inflation£1.06 then, about £1.09 today | 0.94 | 0.92 |
| packs of 20 cigarettesoutran inflation£4.12 then, about £17.76 today | 0.24 | 0.06 |
| dozen eggslagged inflation£1.52 then, about £2.38 today | 0.66 | 0.42 |
| kg of roasting chickenlagged inflation£2.27 then, about £4.04 today | 0.44 | 0.25 |
| pints of milklagged inflation37p then, about 70p today | 2.7 | 1.4 |
| litres of unleadedlagged inflation76p then, about £1.47 today | 1.3 | 0.68 |
| boxes of tea bagslagged inflation£1.46 then, about £2.83 today | 0.68 | 0.35 |
| sliced white loavesoutran inflation51p then, about £1.50 today | 2 | 0.67 |
| nips of whiskyoutran inflation£1.48 then, about £4.17 today | 0.68 | 0.24 |
| pints of bitter£1.81 then, about £4.07 today | 0.55 | 0.25 |
| kg of rump steak£8.71 then, about £20.21 today | 0.11 | 0.05 |
| Same money, adjusted for inflation | £1.00 | £2.42 |
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
£88,799 → £278,784
Up 3.1×, against 2.4× for prices generally
Average pay
£17,108 → £39,260
A year's average earnings, up 2.3×
Years of pay for a house
5.2 → 7.1
Average house price divided by average annual pay
If it had tracked wages
£2.29
What £1.00 in 2001 would be today if it had grown with pay rather than prices