CPI inflation, 2008 to August 2026
£1,000 in 2008 is £1,695 today
That £1,000 bought 365 pints of lager in 2008. Today it buys 192.
Prices up 70%2.9% a year on averageMultiply by 1.70
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 | 2008 | Today |
|---|---|---|
| pints of lager£2.74 then, about £5.20 today | 365 | 192 |
| first-class stampsoutran inflation30p then, £1.80 today | 3,333 | 556 |
| packs of 20 cigarettesoutran inflation£5.31 then, about £17.87 today | 188 | 56 |
| dozen eggslagged inflation£2.60 then, about £2.39 today | 385 | 419 |
| kg of bananaslagged inflation90p then, about £1.10 today | 1,111 | 911 |
| sliced white loaveslagged inflation£1.19 then, about £1.51 today | 840 | 664 |
| nips of whiskyoutran inflation£1.96 then, about £4.20 today | 510 | 238 |
| litres of unleadedlagged inflation£1.07 then, about £1.48 today | 935 | 678 |
| kg of roasting chickenlagged inflation£2.80 then, about £4.07 today | 357 | 246 |
| kg of rump steak£11.00 then, about £20.33 today | 91 | 49 |
| pints of milk42p then, about 70p today | 2,375 | 1,429 |
| boxes of tea bags£1.70 then, about £2.84 today | 588 | 352 |
| pints of bitter£2.39 then, about £4.09 today | 418 | 244 |
| Same money, adjusted for inflation | £1,000 | £1,695 |
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
£168,973 → £278,784
Up 1.6×, against 1.7× for prices generally
Average pay
£22,568 → £39,312
A year's average earnings, up 1.7×
Years of pay for a house
7.5 → 7.1
Average house price divided by average annual pay
If it had tracked wages
£1,742
What £1,000 in 2008 would be today if it had grown with pay rather than prices