CPI inflation, 2020 to July 2026
£1.00 in 2020 is £1.31 today
That £1.00 bought 1.3 first-class stamps in 2020. Today it buys 0.56.
Prices up 31%4.3% a year on averageMultiply by 1.31
What £1.00 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 | 2020 | Today |
|---|---|---|
| first-class stampsoutran inflation76p then, £1.80 today | 1.3 | 0.56 |
| pints of milkoutran inflation43p then, about 70p today | 2.3 | 1.4 |
| packs of 20 cigarettesoutran inflation£11.11 then, about £17.76 today | 0.09 | 0.06 |
| kg of roasting chickenoutran inflation£2.54 then, about £4.04 today | 0.39 | 0.25 |
| sliced white loaves£1.05 then, about £1.50 today | 0.95 | 0.67 |
| dozen eggs£1.96 then, about £2.38 today | 0.51 | 0.42 |
| boxes of tea bags£2.01 then, about £2.83 today | 0.50 | 0.35 |
| kg of bananas87p then, about £1.09 today | 1.1 | 0.92 |
| kg of rump steak£14.72 then, about £20.21 today | 0.07 | 0.05 |
| litres of unleaded£1.14 then, about £1.47 today | 0.88 | 0.68 |
| Same money, adjusted for inflation | £1.00 | £1.31 |
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
£223,050 → £278,784
Up 1.2×, against 1.3× for prices generally
Average pay
£28,444 → £39,260
A year's average earnings, up 1.4×
Years of pay for a house
7.8 → 7.1
Average house price divided by average annual pay
If it had tracked wages
£1.38
What £1.00 in 2020 would be today if it had grown with pay rather than prices