Mintmere CALCULATOR / 02
The Inflation Calculator.
Money can stay the same number while buying less. Explore UK historical prices back to 1800, or look ahead using your own assumptions. UK / £ only for now.
What happened to prices?
UK CPI annual observations from 1988 onward; indicative long-run historical price estimates from 1800–1987. UK / £ only for now.
Annual comparisons are based on calendar-year values. 1800–1987 figures are approximate historical proxies, not official CPI; 1988–2025 uses published CPI. Earlier prices and lifestyles were very different from today.
ONS CPI All Items (D7BT, 1988–2025) ↗ · ONS long-run RPI-based historical prices (CDKO, 1800–1987) ↗. Older data are linked to CPI at 1988 for broad comparisons, not passed off as CPI. Static through 2025.
UK historical price comparisons. Dates before 1988 are approximate.
Salary Time Machine
What salary in your selected start year would have the same general purchasing power as a salary in your selected end year?
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Your historical comparison
Your money's equivalent purchasing power across time.
What happened to prices?
UK price equivalents, approximate before 1988.
What does it actually mean?
Keeping £100 untouched doesn't mean its buying power remains unchanged.
A seemingly small annual difference compounds over decades.
Older estimates to 1987 are RPI-based historical proxies; published CPI from 1988 onward.
Inflation calculators compare the general price level. Your rent, mortgage, groceries and other costs can move very differently. Historical CPI values can be revised. 2026 is intentionally excluded from the full-year historical comparisons because it is not yet a completed year. The forecasting mode makes no claims about actual future inflation.
UK / £ only for now. Source: ONS CPI All Items D7BT (1988–2025) and ONS long-run RPI series CDKO (1800–1987). The older series is joined to modern CPI at 1988: it is an indicative cross-measure reconstruction, not official CPI or a precise historical shopping bill. Estimates are less reliable for more distant years.
