RPI inflation, 2005 to July 2026
£1,000 in 2005 is £2,183 today
That £1,000 bought 415 pints of lager in 2005. Today it buys 193.
Prices up 118%3.7% a year on averageMultiply by 2.18
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 | 2005 | Today |
|---|---|---|
| pints of lager£2.41 then, about £5.17 today | 415 | 193 |
| first-class stampsoutran inflation30p then, £1.80 today | 3,333 | 556 |
| kg of bananaslagged inflation92p then, about £1.09 today | 1,087 | 917 |
| packs of 20 cigarettesoutran inflation£4.57 then, about £17.76 today | 219 | 56 |
| dozen eggslagged inflation£1.55 then, about £2.38 today | 645 | 421 |
| litres of unleadedlagged inflation87p then, about £1.47 today | 1,149 | 682 |
| kg of roasting chickenlagged inflation£2.30 then, about £4.04 today | 435 | 247 |
| pints of bitter£2.11 then, about £4.07 today | 474 | 246 |
| nips of whisky£1.74 then, about £4.17 today | 575 | 240 |
| pints of milk35p then, about 70p today | 2,865 | 1,439 |
| kg of rump steak£8.82 then, about £20.21 today | 113 | 49 |
| sliced white loaves71p then, about £1.50 today | 1,408 | 668 |
| boxes of tea bags£1.29 then, about £2.83 today | 775 | 354 |
| Same money, adjusted for inflation | £1,000 | £2,183 |
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
£156,325 → £278,784
Up 1.8×, against 2.2× for prices generally
Average pay
£19,864 → £39,260
A year's average earnings, up 2.0×
Years of pay for a house
7.9 → 7.1
Average house price divided by average annual pay
If it had tracked wages
£1,976
What £1,000 in 2005 would be today if it had grown with pay rather than prices