How fast have UK consumer prices risen since 1950?

In 2025 UK consumer prices rose 3.4% by the CPI, 3.9% by the CPIH and 4.1% by the RPI, annual average over annual average; the RPI annual average in 2025 was 48.1 times its 1950 level.

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UK consumer price inflation (CPI), 2025

3.4

% change in average consumer prices from the previous year, 2025, annual average over 2024 annual average

Moderate trust, 63 of 100 Only one source (ONS CPI), so it cannot be checked against another.

Each source by year: % change in average consumer prices from the previous year

Recorded change in how a source reports; hover or focus the ring for details.

Show the data as a table

Year	ONS, Consumer Prices Index (CPI), all items, annual rate (series D7G7, dataset MM23)
1989	5.2
1990	7
1991	7.5
1992	4.2
1993	2.5
1994	2
1995	2.6
1996	2.4
1997	1.8
1998	1.6
1999	1.3
2000	0.8
2001	1.2
2002	1.3
2003	1.4
2004	1.3
2005	2.1
2006	2.3
2007	2.3
2008	3.6
2009	2.2
2010	3.3
2011	4.5
2012	2.8
2013	2.6
2014	1.5
2015	0
2016	0.7
2017	2.7
2018	2.5
2019	1.8
2020	0.9
2021	2.6
2022	9.1
2023	7.3
2024	2.5
2025	3.4

What this number counts

Counts: Change in the average price of goods and services bought by households (CPI definition, which leaves out owner occupiers' housing costs)
Where: United Kingdom
When: Calendar year 2025, annual average over 2024 annual average (yearly average over the period)

The figure from ONS CPI, the only source that counts here.

Where the number comes from (1 source)

Source	Figure and year	Definition	Quality	Counts for
ONS, Consumer Prices Index (CPI), all items, annual rate (series D7G7, dataset MM23)Office for National Statistics · Official economic statisticsRetrieved 2026-10-27	3.42025	Yearly value of D7G7: change in the CPI annual average index from the previous year's average, as ONS publishes it (it matches the annual average of index D7BT to rounding). Annual rate published by ONS to one decimal; the CPI is the UK version of the EU Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices.	4 of 5 checks Yes: Method and definitions published. ONS publishes the method in the Consumer Prices Indices Technical Manual and a quality and methodology report (QMI). Yes: Official statistics or peer-reviewed. Accredited official statistics from the Office for National Statistics; the basis of the Bank of England's inflation target since December 2003. Yes: Full count or representative sample. Prices for about 700 representative items collected each month across the UK, weighted by household spending. Yes: Raw data downloadable. Every series is downloadable as CSV from the ONS time series pages (dataset MM23). No: No known break or quality problem. Official CPI starts in January 1996 (annual rates from 1997); 1989-1996 values are ONS estimates, and coverage was extended from 2000.	100%

Better and more direct sources count for more. A source that only copies another does not count.

ONS CPI 100%

ONS CPI100%

How the trust score was worked out

Quality32 / 40: How well the sources are made
Agreement15 / 30: Unknown with one source, so set to half
Independence6 / 20: How many separate ways the number was measured
Freshness10 / 10: How recent the newest data is

How the score works

Who reports it, and since when

Which kinds of source measure this number, which years each one published, and where the reporting stops or has holes.

Official economic statistics · 1

No source of these kinds: independent count.

Single source: nothing to check it against
ONS CPI, 1996: CPI (then called the HICP) launched in January 1996; ONS says estimates broadly consistent with it are available back to 1988, and these supply the 1989-1996 values. source
ONS CPI, 2000: With effect from the January 2000 index, the coverage of goods and services was extended, in stages after that. source
ONS CPI, 2003: The Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices was renamed the CPI in December 2003, when it became the basis of the government's inflation target. source

Years each source has a figure here

'01'05'10'15'20'25ONS CPI

figure no figure here, inside its range no later figure recorded change

UK consumer price inflation including owner occupiers' housing costs (CPIH), 2025

3.9

% change in the CPIH from the previous year, 2025, annual average over 2024 annual average

Moderate trust, 63 of 100 Only one source (ONS CPIH), so it cannot be checked against another.

Each source by year: % change in the CPIH from the previous year

Recorded change in how a source reports; hover or focus the ring for details.

Show the data as a table

Year	ONS, Consumer Prices Index including owner occupiers' housing costs (CPIH), all items, annual rate (series L55O, dataset MM23)
1989	5.7
1990	8
1991	7.5
1992	4.6
1993	2.6
1994	2.2
1995	2.7
1996	2.9
1997	2.2
1998	1.8
1999	1.7
2000	1.2
2001	1.6
2002	1.5
2003	1.4
2004	1.4
2005	2.1
2006	2.5
2007	2.4
2008	3.5
2009	2
2010	2.5
2011	3.8
2012	2.6
2013	2.3
2014	1.5
2015	0.4
2016	1
2017	2.6
2018	2.3
2019	1.7
2020	1
2021	2.5
2022	7.9
2023	6.8
2024	3.3
2025	3.9

What this number counts

Counts: Change in the average price of goods and services bought by households, including owner occupiers' housing costs and council tax (CPIH)
Where: United Kingdom
When: Calendar year 2025, annual average over 2024 annual average (yearly average over the period)

The figure from ONS CPIH, the only source that counts here.

Where the number comes from (1 source)

Source	Figure and year	Definition	Quality	Counts for
ONS, Consumer Prices Index including owner occupiers' housing costs (CPIH), all items, annual rate (series L55O, dataset MM23)Office for National Statistics · Official economic statisticsRetrieved 2026-10-27	3.92025	Yearly value of L55O: change in the CPIH annual average index. CPIH is the CPI basket plus owner occupiers' housing costs (measured by rental equivalence) and council tax. Annual rate published by ONS to one decimal. ONS: aside from owner occupiers' housing costs and council tax, the CPIH basket is identical to the CPI's.	4 of 5 checks Yes: Method and definitions published. ONS publishes the method in the Consumer Prices Indices Technical Manual and a quality and methodology report (QMI). Yes: Official statistics or peer-reviewed. Official statistics from ONS, its lead inflation measure since March 2017; accredited status was reinstated on 31 July 2017. Yes: Full count or representative sample. Prices for about 700 representative items collected each month across the UK, weighted by household spending. Yes: Raw data downloadable. Every series is downloadable as CSV from the ONS time series pages (dataset MM23). No: No known break or quality problem. CPIH was launched in 2013 with a back series from 2005; 1989-2004 are estimates ONS published in 2018 and says to treat with caution.	100%

Better and more direct sources count for more. A source that only copies another does not count.

ONS CPIH 100%

ONS CPIH100%

How the trust score was worked out

Quality32 / 40: How well the sources are made
Agreement15 / 30: Unknown with one source, so set to half
Independence6 / 20: How many separate ways the number was measured
Freshness10 / 10: How recent the newest data is

How the score works

Who reports it, and since when

Which kinds of source measure this number, which years each one published, and where the reporting stops or has holes.

Official economic statistics · 1

No source of these kinds: independent count.

Single source: nothing to check it against
ONS CPIH, 2005: CPIH launched in early 2013 with a back series from 2005; in December 2018 ONS published estimates back to 1988 as an official statistic, not a National Statistic. source
ONS CPIH, 2017: Accredited official statistics status of CPIH reinstated on 31 July 2017; CPIH became the lead measure in ONS's Consumer Price Inflation bulletin from 21 March 2017. source

Years each source has a figure here

'01'05'10'15'20'25ONS CPIH

figure no figure here, inside its range no later figure recorded change

UK Retail Prices Index change, 2025

4.1

% change in the Retail Prices Index from the previous year, 2025, annual average over 2024 annual average

Moderate trust, 63 of 100 Only one source (ONS RPI), so it cannot be checked against another.

Each source by year: % change in the Retail Prices Index from the previous year

Recorded change in how a source reports; hover or focus the ring for details.

Show the data as a table

Year	ONS, Retail Prices Index (RPI), all items, annual rate (series CZBH, dataset MM23)
1949	2.8
1950	3.1
1951	9.1
1952	9.2
1953	3.1
1954	1.8
1955	4.5
1956	4.9
1957	3.7
1958	3
1959	0.6
1960	1
1961	3.4
1962	4.3
1963	2
1964	3.3
1965	4.8
1966	3.9
1967	2.5
1968	4.7
1969	5.4
1970	6.4
1971	9.4
1972	7.1
1973	9.2
1974	16
1975	24.2
1976	16.5
1977	15.8
1978	8.3
1979	13.4
1980	18
1981	11.9
1982	8.6
1983	4.6
1984	5
1985	6.1
1986	3.4
1987	4.2
1988	4.9
1989	7.8
1990	9.5
1991	5.9
1992	3.7
1993	1.6
1994	2.4
1995	3.5
1996	2.4
1997	3.1
1998	3.4
1999	1.5
2000	3
2001	1.8
2002	1.7
2003	2.9
2004	3
2005	2.8
2006	3.2
2007	4.3
2008	4
2009	-0.5
2010	4.6
2011	5.2
2012	3.2
2013	3
2014	2.4
2015	1
2016	1.8
2017	3.6
2018	3.3
2019	2.6
2020	1.5
2021	4.1
2022	11.6
2023	9.7
2024	3.6
2025	4.1

What this number counts

Counts: Change in the Retail Prices Index, all items (its own formula and coverage, including mortgage interest)
Where: United Kingdom
When: Calendar year 2025, annual average over 2024 annual average (yearly average over the period)

The figure from ONS RPI, the only source that counts here.

Where the number comes from (1 source)

Source	Figure and year	Definition	Quality	Counts for
ONS, Retail Prices Index (RPI), all items, annual rate (series CZBH, dataset MM23)Office for National Statistics · Official economic statisticsRetrieved 2026-10-27	4.12025	Yearly value of CZBH: change in the RPI annual average index from the previous year's average (it matches the annual average of index CHAW exactly from 1988). The RPI uses arithmetic averages (including the Carli formula) and includes mortgage interest payments and house depreciation. Annual rate published by ONS to one decimal, from 1949. The 1950-to-latest multiple in the answer uses ONS's long-run RPI index, series CDKO (January 1974 = 100).	4 of 5 checks Yes: Method and definitions published. ONS publishes the method in the Consumer Prices Indices Technical Manual and a quality and methodology report (QMI). Yes: Official statistics or peer-reviewed. Official statistics produced by ONS, but no longer accredited: the UK Statistics Authority cancelled its National Statistics status in 2013. Yes: Full count or representative sample. Prices for about 700 representative items collected each month across the UK, weighted by household spending. Yes: Raw data downloadable. Every series is downloadable as CSV from the ONS time series pages (dataset MM23). No: No known break or quality problem. The UK Statistics Authority found its methods not consistent with international best practice (2013); the 1949-1955 values come from the Interim Index of Retail Prices.	100%

Better and more direct sources count for more. A source that only copies another does not count.

ONS RPI 100%

ONS RPI100%

How the trust score was worked out

Quality32 / 40: How well the sources are made
Agreement15 / 30: Unknown with one source, so set to half
Independence6 / 20: How many separate ways the number was measured
Freshness10 / 10: How recent the newest data is

How the score works

Who reports it, and since when

Which kinds of source measure this number, which years each one published, and where the reporting stops or has holes.

Official economic statistics · 1

No source of these kinds: independent count.

Single source: nothing to check it against
ONS RPI, 1956: The first official Retail Prices Index began in January 1956; from June 1947 to January 1956 ONS's predecessors produced the Interim Index of Retail Prices. source
ONS RPI, 1962: RPI reference period changed (January 1952, 1956, 1962, 1974 and 1987), each time with changes to coverage or structure of sub-components. source
ONS RPI, 2010: Improvements to the measurement of mortgage interest payments, seasonal items, new car prices and private rents introduced in 2010, 2011 and 2012. source
ONS RPI, 2013: The UK Statistics Authority cancelled the RPI's National Statistics designation in 2013 because its methods are not consistent with internationally recognised best practice. source
ONS RPI, 2013: In January 2013 the National Statistician announced that future changes to the RPI would be limited to routine changes such as the basket update. source

Years each source has a figure here

'01'05'10'15'20'25ONS RPI

figure no figure here, inside its range no later figure recorded change

About this data

Every source on this page (3)

Who is behind the sources

100% Statistics office

Each publisher, its funding and its own description

Office for National Statistics (ONS) · Statistics officeFunding: UK government budget; ONS is the executive office of the UK Statistics Authority, a non-ministerial department. sourceIn its own words: “Our main responsibilities are collecting, analysing and disseminating statistics about the UK's economy, society and population.” source, retrieved 2026-10-27

ONS, Consumer Prices Index (CPI), all items, annual rate (series D7G7, dataset MM23)Office for National Statistics (ONS) (statistics office) · Official economic statisticsUsed for 1 number; counts toward 1. Years 2025. Retrieved 2026-10-27.Open the publisher's page
ONS, Consumer Prices Index including owner occupiers' housing costs (CPIH), all items, annual rate (series L55O, dataset MM23)Office for National Statistics (ONS) (statistics office) · Official economic statisticsUsed for 1 number; counts toward 1. Years 2025. Retrieved 2026-10-27.Open the publisher's page
ONS, Retail Prices Index (RPI), all items, annual rate (series CZBH, dataset MM23)Office for National Statistics (ONS) (statistics office) · Official economic statisticsUsed for 1 number; counts toward 1. Years 2025. Retrieved 2026-10-27.Open the publisher's page

Why the numbers differ (3)

CPIH is the CPI plus owner occupiers' housing costs, measured as the rent an owned home would fetch, and council tax; the CPI leaves both out. They are separate numbers, not two sources for one number, because both come from the same ONS price collection and the rest of the basket is the same.
The RPI is a separate number because ONS builds it differently: it averages some prices arithmetically (the Carli formula), leaves out the highest-income households and pensioner households living mainly on state pensions and benefits, and includes mortgage interest payments and house depreciation. It is the only one of the three that ONS publishes back to 1950.
From 1997 to 2025 the RPI annual rate was above the CPI rate in 28 of 29 years, by 1.0 percentage points on average. Calculated from series CZBH and D7G7 on this page. (source, retrieved 2026-10-27)

Common mistakes (3)

Annual average change is not the 12-month rate for one month. The ONS monthly headline (for example, September over September) can be well above or below the calendar-year figure shown here.
CPI figures before 1996 and CPIH figures before 2005 are ONS estimates made later, not figures published at the time; ONS asks users to treat them with caution. (source, retrieved 2026-10-27)
The RPI is still used to uprate index-linked gilts and excise duties, but ONS says its use as a measure of inflation has been strongly discouraged; a rise in the RPI is not the same thing as a rise in the CPI. (source, retrieved 2026-10-27)

Context (3)

Sources considered and not used (3)

ONS modelled CPI back series: ONS describes its modelled CPI for 1950-2011 as indicative figures to be treated with caution, and it is only in an archived PDF article, not in the MM23 dataset. (source, retrieved 2026-10-27)
Eurostat HICP for the United Kingdom: It is the ONS CPI republished, so it would not be an independent line.
RPIX and RPIY (RPI excluding mortgage interest payments): Variants of the RPI built from the same price collection; RPIX was the inflation target measure until December 2003. Left out to keep one line per collection. (source, retrieved 2026-10-27)

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Cite as: RealStats, “How fast have UK consumer prices risen since 1950?”, updated 2026-10-27, with the original sources listed on the page. Scores use formula version 1.0.
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