RPI inflation, 2003 to July 2026
£1,000 in 2003 is £2,312 today
That £1,000 bought 442 pints of lager in 2003. Today it buys 193.
Prices up 131%3.6% a year on averageMultiply by 2.31
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 | 2003 | Today |
|---|---|---|
| pints of lager£2.26 then, about £5.17 today | 442 | 193 |
| first-class stampsoutran inflation27p then, £1.80 today | 3,704 | 556 |
| kg of bananaslagged inflation92p then, about £1.09 today | 1,087 | 917 |
| packs of 20 cigarettesoutran inflation£4.24 then, about £17.76 today | 236 | 56 |
| dozen eggslagged inflation£1.54 then, about £2.38 today | 649 | 421 |
| kg of roasting chickenlagged inflation£2.28 then, about £4.04 today | 439 | 247 |
| pints of milklagged inflation37p then, about 70p today | 2,732 | 1,439 |
| litres of unleadedlagged inflation76p then, about £1.47 today | 1,316 | 682 |
| boxes of tea bagslagged inflation£1.45 then, about £2.83 today | 690 | 354 |
| sliced white loaves58p then, about £1.50 today | 1,724 | 668 |
| pints of bitter£1.94 then, about £4.07 today | 515 | 246 |
| nips of whisky£1.64 then, about £4.17 today | 610 | 240 |
| kg of rump steak£8.95 then, about £20.21 today | 112 | 49 |
| Same money, adjusted for inflation | £1,000 | £2,312 |
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
£127,246 → £278,784
Up 2.2×, against 2.3× for prices generally
Average pay
£18,200 → £39,260
A year's average earnings, up 2.2×
Years of pay for a house
7.0 → 7.1
Average house price divided by average annual pay
If it had tracked wages
£2,157
What £1,000 in 2003 would be today if it had grown with pay rather than prices