CPI inflation, 2003 to July 2026
£1,000 in 2003 is £1,893 today
That £1,000 bought 442 pints of lager in 2003. Today it buys 193.
Prices up 89%2.8% a year on averageMultiply by 1.89
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 lageroutran inflation£2.26 then, about £5.17 today | 442 | 193 |
| first-class stampsoutran inflation27p then, £1.80 today | 3,704 | 556 |
| packs of 20 cigarettesoutran inflation£4.24 then, about £17.76 today | 236 | 56 |
| kg of bananaslagged inflation92p then, about £1.09 today | 1,087 | 917 |
| sliced white loavesoutran inflation58p then, about £1.50 today | 1,724 | 668 |
| nips of whiskyoutran inflation£1.64 then, about £4.17 today | 610 | 240 |
| dozen eggslagged inflation£1.54 then, about £2.38 today | 649 | 421 |
| kg of rump steakoutran inflation£8.95 then, about £20.21 today | 112 | 49 |
| pints of bitter£1.94 then, about £4.07 today | 515 | 246 |
| kg of roasting chicken£2.28 then, about £4.04 today | 439 | 247 |
| boxes of tea bags£1.45 then, about £2.83 today | 690 | 354 |
| litres of unleaded76p then, about £1.47 today | 1,316 | 682 |
| pints of milk37p then, about 70p today | 2,732 | 1,439 |
| Same money, adjusted for inflation | £1,000 | £1,893 |
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 1.9× 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