CPI inflation, 2001 to August 2026
£1,000 in 2001 is £1,951 today
That £1,000 bought 493 pints of lager in 2001. Today it buys 192.
Prices up 95%2.6% a year on averageMultiply by 1.95
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 | 2001 | Today |
|---|---|---|
| pints of lageroutran inflation£2.03 then, about £5.20 today | 493 | 192 |
| first-class stampsoutran inflation27p then, £1.80 today | 3,704 | 556 |
| packs of 20 cigarettesoutran inflation£4.12 then, about £17.87 today | 243 | 56 |
| kg of bananaslagged inflation£1.06 then, about £1.10 today | 943 | 911 |
| sliced white loavesoutran inflation51p then, about £1.51 today | 1,961 | 664 |
| nips of whiskyoutran inflation£1.48 then, about £4.20 today | 676 | 238 |
| dozen eggslagged inflation£1.52 then, about £2.39 today | 658 | 419 |
| kg of rump steakoutran inflation£8.71 then, about £20.33 today | 115 | 49 |
| pints of bitteroutran inflation£1.81 then, about £4.09 today | 552 | 244 |
| kg of roasting chicken£2.27 then, about £4.07 today | 441 | 246 |
| pints of milk37p then, about 70p today | 2,732 | 1,429 |
| litres of unleaded76p then, about £1.48 today | 1,316 | 678 |
| boxes of tea bags£1.46 then, about £2.84 today | 685 | 352 |
| Same money, adjusted for inflation | £1,000 | £1,951 |
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 2.0× for prices generally
Average pay
£17,108 → £39,312
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
£2,298
What £1,000 in 2001 would be today if it had grown with pay rather than prices